New Delhi: Gaza’s largest refugee camp witnessed a series of powerful explosions on Tuesday, killing several people. The Israeli military contended that the airstrikes responsible for the explosions had targeted and killed a Hamas commander associated with the October 7 attacks.
Here are 10 points on this big story
- Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza on Wednesday, bringing the total count of Israeli troop deaths to 326 since the onset of the October 7 attacks. Furthermore, two soldiers suffered injuries, as reported by the Israeli military.
- Internet and communications were cut off in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. “To our good people in the beloved country, we are sorry to announce that communications and internet services have been completely cut off in Gaza,” the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) said on X.
- Foreigners have started leaving Gaza after Egypt opened the Rafah crossing for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.
- The airstrikes took place amid global pleas to cease the violence and address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The health ministry had documented 8,525 fatalities, including 3,542 children and 2,187 women, mere hours before the onset of the attack.
- Despite the increasing death toll, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu staunchly rejected any possibility of a ceasefire, stating that such appeals amounted to “a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism.”
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to revisit Israel on Friday. “Secretary Blinken will travel to Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the Israeli government, and then will make other stops in the region,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
- On Tuesday, the United Nations declared that the Gaza Strip, under siege, has transformed into a “graveyard” for thousands of children. “Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realised in just a fortnight,” the UN said.
- Over at West Bank, the Palestinian territory under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, at least 122 Palestinians have been killed since the October 7 attacks. On Tuesday, the home of Hamas leader Saleh al-Aruri was demolished by the Israeli army.
- Israel reported that its forces entered Arura, a village near Ramallah, and engaged in gunfire with individuals who were throwing rocks towards them during the demolition.
- The European Union strongly condemned the attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinians in the West Bank. The ongoing crisis has raised global concerns, with Bolivia announcing on Tuesday that it was severing diplomatic ties with Israel. “The Bolivian government has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the State of Israel, in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive being carried out in the Gaza Strip,” deputy foreign minister Freddy Mamani said.