The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the Palestinian Territories, Lynn Hastings, warned on Thursday that "no place is safe in Gaza" because of the concentrated

Israeli bombardment on the Strip, stressing in a statement that the "advance warnings" sent by the Israeli army to residents to evacuate the areas it intends to target in the

northern Gaza Strip "do not make any difference".

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Edited by| Paul Mitchel

 

Humanity  section -  CJ journalist

 

Gaza Strip – October,26,2023

 

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Meanwhile, the death toll in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli bombardment exceeded the threshold of seven thousand, including 2,913 children and 1,709 women,

according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday morning that in preparation for the next stages of the fighting, its forces entered northern Gaza, adding that the army's tanks and

infantry hit a number of armed cells, infrastructure and anti-tank rocket launch sites. "The soldiers have since left the area and returned to Israeli territory,"he said.

Earlier today, Israeli Army Radio announced that"infantry and armored forces carried out an unusual and large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip last night".

"Last night's incursion was the largest in terms of scope and depth inside Gaza . Its purpose is to attack Hamas targets inside the Strip and strengthen the defense. This is a

larger-scale operation than the raids carried out so far in the last two weeks in the Gaza Strip,"he said.

Israel faced mounting international pressure on Wednesday to reconsider its plan to launch a large-scale ground invasion against the Gaza Strip.

French President Emmanuel Macron said from Cairo yesterday that launching a " large-scale ground operation "in the Gaza Strip" would be a mistake, " while the relief and

Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned that it would have to stop its relief operations due to lack of fuel supplies.

For his part, Sisi called on Israel to avoid a "ground invasion of the Gaza Strip" because "it will lead to very, very many civilian casualties".

US President Joe Biden also warned Israel of the repercussions of the ground invasion, although he does not support the current ceasefire demanded by the UN and several

countries, and said "Israel must do everything it can, no matter how difficult, to protect innocent civilians.

Several countries are demanding a humanitarian halt to the continuous bombardment on Gaza, while Israel has promised to"eliminate" the Hamas movement after its

unprecedented attack on its territory on the seventh of October, and is preparing its army for a ground attack to achieve this.

"We are preparing for a ground entry," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explaining that the war cabinet will decide "unanimously" the date of the attack, but

stressed that "I cannot go into details of when, how, where and what things we take into account" before this step.

The tragic humanitarian situation in the 362-square-kilometer strip is also of concern to the international community. According to the World Health Organization, six hospitals

have already closed their doors due to fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.4 million people.

The UN is calling for urgent deliveries of fuel to power generators in hospitals where thousands of wounded are pouring, to pump and purify water, and to power its trucks.

But Israel refuses, saying that this will benefit "Hamas".

Washington considers that a ceasefire "at this stage will only benefit Hamas". The White House has instead proposed "suspension periods" for military operations to facilitate

the delivery of humanitarian aid, a position that EU countries are expected to adopt during their meeting on Thursday and Friday, according to diplomatic sources.

Meanwhile, divisions continued in the UN Security Council, yesterday, with the rejection of two rival Russian and American draft resolutions on the war between Israel

and"Hamas".