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The Israeli army said Thursday it was preparing for a ground assault on Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip but that the country’s political leaders had not yet taken a decision.
“We are waiting to see what our political leadership decides about a potential ground” incursion, army spokesperson Richard Hecht told journalists.
“This has not been decided yet… But we are preparing for a ground manoeuvre if it is decided,” he added.
The army has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the border with the Gaza Strip as it continues with a withering air campaign it says targets Hamas infrastructure, commanders and operating centres in the enclave.
The air strikes came in response to a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday by Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which included the firing of thousands of rockets and the infiltration ground attacks on the Israeli towns bordering Gaza.
The number of fatalities in Israel since the beginning of Hamas’ surprise attack has reached at least 1,300, Israel’s state-owned Kan TV news reported on Thursday.
Over 3,268 people were injured, and 443 of them are still in hospitals, the Israeli Health Ministry said. Attempts to find bodies in southern towns and villages continued on Thursday, Israeli authorities said.
In Gaza, more than 1,200 individuals have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
On Thursday, Israel and Hamas traded more fire. Israel has also imposed a “complete siege” on the Palestinian enclave, cutting off electricity, water and fuel supplies into Gaza.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said earlier on Thursday that the supplies will not be resumed until Hamas fighters free all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Israel formed a unity government and a war cabinet on Wednesday to oversee the deadly conflict. The new war cabinet brings former defense minister and leader of the centrist-right National Unity party Benny Gantz to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious coalition government. Members of the wartime cabinet also include Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Humanitarian crisis
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Wednesday that four of its paramedics were killed during Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported the loss of 11 employees in the Gaza Strip since the weekend.
According to United Nations figures, some 250,000 people were displaced or lost their homes in Gaza. The Palestinian Energy Ministry said the only power plant in Gaza ran out of fuel. The Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement Wednesday all hospital beds in the Palestinian enclave had been occupied, and medicines were about to run out as the conflict continued.
Calls for peace
To resolve the conflict, an Arab League (AL) extraordinary meeting at the level of foreign ministers was held in Cairo on Wednesday. Participants of the meeting called for an immediate halt of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict and the revival of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
In the final communique of the meeting, the top Arab diplomats urged all parties to exercise self-restraint, warning of “the catastrophic humanitarian and security repercussions” of further escalation.
They also emphasized the necessity of lifting the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza and immediately providing humanitarian aid, food and fuel to the people there.
Egypt said, on Wednesday, it is in discussions with the United States and other countries to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza through a temporary ceasefire. The aid would be sent through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
China is deeply concerned over the current escalation of tensions and violence between Palestine and Israel, and calls on relevant parties to remain calm, exercise restraint and immediately end the hostilities to protect civilians and avoid further deterioration of the situation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
The fundamental way out of the conflict lies in implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent State of Palestine, the spokesperson said.
The international community needs to act with greater urgency and facilitate the early resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel, and find a way to bring about enduring peace, noting that China will continue to work relentlessly with the international community towards that end, the spokesperson added.
Li Shaoxian, head of the China Institute for Arab Studies at Ningxia University shared similar views about the conflict, saying that “The implementation of the ‘two-state solution’ through dialogue and peace talks is the fundamental way out to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict conflict, also a precondition to achieve peace in the Middle East.”
“Scale of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the number of casualties it caused have shocked the international community. The current situation is still in escalation and the situation could worsen,” warned Wang Jin, a research fellow from Syria Research Center of Northwest University in China.
(With input from agencies)
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