The Israeli army awaits orders to invade the Gaza Strip The bomb-ravaged Palestinian territory hosts a million displaced people

Israel massed troops in front of the Gaza Strip on Sunday Considering the invasion of Palestinian territory, the bombings unleashed after the Hamas attack have already gone off against its territory. More than 2,600 people died and a million were displaced. Israeli troops are awaiting a political order to carry out their mission to destroy Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. Attacked more than 250 targets of the terrorist organization in the last 24 hoursKilled another commander of the organization.

I am waiting for the political decision

The Israeli military asked the public on Friday From the north of the abode Head south “without delay”., but a spokesman for the force assured Saturday night that the ground offensive would not begin on Sunday for humanitarian reasons. Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers stationed around the enclave are awaiting a “political decision” to decide when to launch a ground offensive, military spokesmen Richard Hecht and Daniel Hagari said.

Chief of Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces, General Herzei Halevi, told troops massed near the Gaza Strip that they would soon enter the enclave and do so “to win.” Israeli Air Force Chief Gen See TomerIt announced that its aircraft would facilitate conditions for a ground intervention and that it would adopt “an aggressive approach” to ensure that its military could. “Be effective during a ground operation”In reports collected by the newspaper Haaretz.

The Israeli military announced this Sunday that it had killed Billal al-Khetra in Gaza, the Hamas commander responsible for an attack on the Nirim kibbutz near the Palestinian border that left at least five people dead, according to local media. Earlier in the day, he announced the death of two Hamas military commanders who, according to the military, were among those responsible for the deadly attack on the 7th of this month.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin NetanyahuOn Saturday he visited troops stationed near Gaza and warned that an attack was still a long way off. “Are you ready for what’s to come? It will continue.”Netanyahu announced in a speech to his troops. The Israeli military has already made incursions into the area where they found some of the “bodies” of the kidnapped hostages.

Hamas commandos, classified as terrorists by the United States, the European Union and Israel, have captured 155 people and are holding them hostage. But the head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmood AbbasHe promised that “Hamas’ policies and actions do not represent the Palestinian people”. Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Abbas’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was the only representative of the people in his conversation with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“Unprecedented Humanitarian Disaster”

Local officials say 2,670 people, including more than 700 children, have been killed in the bombings in Gaza so far. President of the United Nations Organization for Palestine Refugees (Unrava), Juliet Duma, said About a million Palestinians have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip due to shelling and “the number will probably rise.”

UNRWA said an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” would occur in Gaza. “Not a drop of water, not a grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel “We were allowed to enter Gaza in the last eight days,” he said. Philip Lazzarini, head of UNRWA. Israel announced this Sunday that it would partially restore water supplies to the Gaza Strip after shutting off taps last Monday, although it was unclear whether the measure was intended to alleviate the acute humanitarian crisis.

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country “is working with the UN and the Middle East to ensure that innocent civilians have access to water, food and medical care.” Biden pledged his “full support” to Mahmoud Abbas in his efforts to provide humanitarian aid “especially in Gaza.”

The US president warned Israel that reoccupying the Gaza Strip would be a “huge mistake” even as he defended the Jewish state’s right to enter Palestinian territory to eliminate Hamas militants.

Humanitarian aidPeople from many countries, With the Strip concentrated on the border with Egypt. Egypt controls the only entrance to Gaza that is not under Israeli control, the Rafah border crossing, which was closed this Sunday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for immediate aid to the tiny enclave, which has been under Israeli siege since 2006.

Pope Francis said in his traditional Sunday Angelus prayer “Urgent and necessary to guarantee humanitarian corridors and help people” of the bark. Thousands of residents have been fleeing south since Friday amid the rubble and hastily piling their belongings into trailers, carts, motorcycles and cars. But the southern part of the enclave is also the target of bombings and its hospitals are overflowing.

Increased risk in the area

The situation in Gaza is worrisome both for its humanitarian aspect and for its potential to fuel regional conflict. Arab League and African Union They said this in their statement An invasion of the Strip would “lead to genocide on an unprecedented scale.”.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian warned that “no one can guarantee” that Israel would control the situation if it invaded Gaza. The United States offered unwavering support to Israel, but at the same time expressed concern over the situation in Gaza and fears that the conflict would spread.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Saturday that Washington had sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean to “prevent hostile actions against Israel”. White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan warned of “direct intervention” by Iran.

Iran is Israel’s number one enemy and backs the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which on Friday said it was “ready” to join Hamas. Tensions are growing in southern LebanonOn the border with Israel, a rocket hit the headquarters of the UN Blue Helmets this Sunday.

Hezbollah and Israeli troops have ended a week of border clashes At least 16 people have died in both countries. In other operations, Hezbollah claimed five missile attacks, to which the Jewish state responded with artillery and bombing, in recent days amid one of the worst escalations between the parties since the two sides fought a war in 2006. .

A journalist from the Reuters news agency was killed and six reporters from that publication, AFP and Al Jazeera were injured. Blasts in the area on Friday. “If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very high price,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Rather than calm the waters, the commander of the Israeli Defense Forces’ Southern Command added: “This is a war of the sons of darkness against the sons of light, it will be a great war, it will be a deadly war. It will be a precision war, it will be a war that will change the situation forever.