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A Palestinian man watches the destruction following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, Palestine, October 25, 2023. /CFP
A Palestinian man watches the destruction following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, Palestine, October 25, 2023. /CFP
The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 6,651, said the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 17,439 Palestinians were wounded in the coastal enclave, the ministry said in a statement.
The number of deaths on the Israeli side stands at 1,400, according to data from the Ministry of Health of Israel cited by the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli airstrikes surge in Gaza
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday that Israel’s aerial bombardment and artillery shellings have increased three-fold compared to previous days.
On Wednesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on social media platform X that its extensive attacks on Gaza during the past day had eliminated Hamas operatives and infrastructure, including tunnel shafts, military headquarters, munitions warehouses, and mortar bomb and anti-tank missile launchers.
Ten Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in an aircraft bombardment on “the only bakery” in the al-Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza, which also destroyed several surrounding houses, said Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas-run media office in Gaza.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said only four of the 24 bakeries it contracted still supply bread for shelters, warning that most of the remaining ones might close soon due to fuel shortages.
Hamas trying to enter Israel via tunnels
The IDF said Wednesday that it identified at least two Hamas “terrorists” that attempted to infiltrate Israeli territory in the area of Zikim via the sea after Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters had infiltrated Israel’s Zikim base in Ashkelon and clashed with its forces.
The IDF also stated that on Tuesday, four “terrorists” entered the Israeli coastline using a submersible. It is believed that they accessed the respective coastline through a tunnel and then employed the submersible to reach the Israeli side of the coast, then triggered local alarms.
Israeli soldiers stand next to an armored personnel carrier as they hold a position near Sderot on the border with the Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. /CFP
Israeli soldiers stand next to an armored personnel carrier as they hold a position near Sderot on the border with the Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. /CFP
Israel postpones start of ground operations
The IDF has postponed its ground operation in the Gaza Strip for approximately a week, awaiting the strengthening of U.S. missile defense systems in the Middle East, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The deployment of missile defense systems is scheduled to be completed by the end of this week.
However, the IDF’s Home Front Command issued an unusual warning to residents of Gaza border towns to seek shelter immediately amid an impending “widespread attack,” Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday evening. Residents were told to bring means of communication, food and water, mattresses, blankets, medicine and other necessary equipment into their shelters.
Humanitarian agency in crisis
The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in the UN facilities across Gaza has surpassed 613,000, according to a statement from the UN agency in Gaza on Wednesday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has also warned of the devastating impacts of the fuel shortage on its work on the strip.
UNRWA workers at a warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza pack medical aid and prepare it for distribution to hospitals, October 25, 2023. /CFP
UNRWA workers at a warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza pack medical aid and prepare it for distribution to hospitals, October 25, 2023. /CFP
Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesperson for the Gaza-based Health Ministry, told media that Israeli attacks had so far killed 65 medical staff, destroyed 25 ambulances, and made 12 hospitals and 32 health centers in the Palestinian enclave inoperable.
Al-Qudra said Gaza faces a possible outbreak of infections, as 3,150 cases of diseases, ranging from diarrhea and food poisoning to scabies and bronchial infections, were reported in a day since the ongoing conflict, with most of them reported among children due to the lack of clean water and poor sanitation in shelter facilities.
The spokesperson also said that approximately 7,000 patients and wounded individuals in Gaza’s hospitals are now facing the imminent threat of death, citing Al-Quds, a Palestinian Arabic language daily newspaper.
The fifth humanitarian aid convoy was sent to the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and the sixth humanitarian aid convoy is scheduled to be sent on Thursday morning, according to a Cairo media report.
More countries and organizations call for a ceasefire
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and implement the two-state solution.
Egypt is making efforts to secure the release of more hostages by Hamas to ease the tense situation while also urging Israel not to launch ground military operations on the Gaza Strip.
A “massive” Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip would be “a mistake,” Macron said, warning it would harm civilians without ensuring Israel’s long-term security.
On the same day, King Abdullah II of Jordan called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop the attacks, protect civilians and end the siege on the strip during his meeting with visiting French president, according to a statement by Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court.
(With input from agencies)
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