Several Palestinians were killed and wounded on Tuesday night as the Israeli army continued its 382nd consecutive day of military offensive against the Gaza Strip.
Day 382 of Israeli assualt on Gaza
Eyewitnesses reported a dangerous military escalation in northern parts of the Gaza Strip, where heavy gunfire and loud explosions were heard.
Israeli forces also struck a house on Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City and carried out airstrikes in the northern parts of the Strip. Meanwhile, heavy gunfire erupted in the western neighbourhoods of northern Gaza City. In Beit Lahiya, several Palestinians were killed by drone fire.
Three Palestinians were killed and injured when the Israeli forces shelled a temporary accommodation centre in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Strip.
The ongoing military offensive against the Gaza Strip since October 2023 has killed 42,603 Palestinians and injured 99,795, most of them children and women.
UNRWA urges Israel to allow access into northern Gaza
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Monday urged Israeli authorities to allow its team to enter northern Gaza for lifesaving rescue operations.
In a statement, UNRWA said it reiterated the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) urgent demand to the Israeli authorities to “allow access to conduct rescue operations in (northern) Gaza, including the extraction of people trapped under rubble.”
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philip Lazzarini said earlier on Monday that Israel was prohibiting the delivery of humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Civil Defence said in a separate statement on Monday that more than 600 people have been killed since Israel launched its ongoing military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip more than a fortnight ago. Spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu:
The bodies of dozens of dead people are still under the rubble and on the streets as civil defense teams can’t reach them.
Antony Blinken in Israel to revive ceasefire talks
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday, the first stop on an extensive Middle East tour aimed at reviving Gaza ceasefire talks and discussing the enclave’s future after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but any breakthrough looks unlikely ahead of the upcoming US elections.
The latest trip by the top US diplomat – the 11th since Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering the Gaza war – comes amid an intensifying Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian enclave as well as in Lebanon against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Blinken’s planned week-long trip, which will include stops in Jordan on Wednesday and Doha, also comes as the region prepares for Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1. The response could disrupt oil markets and has the potential to unleash a full-scale war between the arch-enemies.
Blinken will focus on how to end the war, plans for the enclave after the fighting ends and how to improve humanitarian aid, according to a senior State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israeli officials last week demanding specific measures to address the deteriorating situation in Gaza, or face potential restrictions on US military aid.
In his meetings with Israel and Arab countries, the official said, Blinken will address “pressing” issues in detail, such as security, governance and reconstruction. Having detailed plans for each of these issues is seen as a prerequisite for reaching a lasting solution to the conflict.
The secretary of state will also discuss with Israel and other countries ways to diplomatically resolve the conflict with Hezbollah and continue Washington’s conversation with the Israelis about their expected response to Iran’s missile attack, the official said.
