Death toll climbs in Gaza as Israel intensifies airstrikes
By Nadav Gavrielov
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said Tuesday (24) that it had escalated bombardments in the Gaza Strip overnight, and Palestinian officials said that hundreds of people had been killed, adding to the devastating toll as Israel faces pressure to delay a ground invasion.
Israel said it had struck more than 400 targets in the past 24 hours, after hitting more than 320 a day earlier, in some of the most intense aerial attacks on Gaza in recent days. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by the armed group Hamas, said it had recorded the highest single-day death toll of the war: at least 704 people killed in dozens of strikes on homes, a refugee camp and other places. It was not possible to independently verify the toll.
While Israeli military officials say they are well prepared for a ground assault in Gaza, part of its strategy to eliminate Hamas, it remains unclear when and if such an invasion will occur. US officials have said Israel’s military is not yet ready with a plan for a successful ground invasion, and has also urged Israel to give more time for hostage negotiations and aid deliveries.
During the delays, Israel has intensified its bombardment from the air. The Gaza Health Ministry said Israel’s airstrikes had killed more than 5,700 people, nearly half of them children, since Oct. 7, when a Hamas-led attack killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
Here is what else to know:
— President Emmanuel Macron of France visited Israel to continue the diplomatic push to free hostages, deliver more aid to civilians in Gaza and prevent the conflict from spreading. Macron also expressed solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him that the fight against terrorism “must be merciless, but not without rules”.
— One of the two Hamas hostages released Monday (23), Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, told reporters in Tel Aviv, Israel, that she had “gone through hell”. The other released hostage was identified by Israel as Nurit Cooper, 79. Last week, Hamas set free an Israeli American mother and her daughter, but it and other groups are believed to still be holding about 220 people captured during the Oct. 7 raid.
— Aid workers had started distributing relief supplies in southern Gaza after a third convoy of aid entered through Egypt on Monday. Humanitarian groups have called for more food, water and medicine to be sent in, as well as fuel, but Israel has balked at deliveries of fuel because it says Hamas could use it for military purposes.
-New York Times
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