The Israeli military carried out a focused operation in northern Gaza during the night. They also announced that they will continue conducting ground raids in the next few days. This happened while the United Nations General Assembly gathered to talk about a resolution suggesting a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.
A video was shared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday. It showed tanks and armored vehicles, including a bulldozer, moving on a road near a fence in northern Gaza. The big military vehicles shot cannons, and some damage could be noticed close by.
In an interview with CNN, IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner explained that the raid was a planned and thorough operation to improve conditions for future ground operations. He also mentioned that the IDF fought against and successfully eliminated terrorists who were preparing to launch attacks against us using anti-tank guided missiles.
Israel’s military will continue to carry out attacks in Gaza in the following days, as confirmed by IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari spoke at a press conference that was shown on TV later on Thursday. The ground attacks are meant to eliminate Hamas fighters, prepare for a full-scale invasion, and disable explosive devices and spying stations, according to him.
The attack happened when there was a big problem in Gaza, with many people needing help. This problem got worse because bombs were being dropped every day and Israel stopped fuel from getting into Gaza, which is very important for saving lives. The lack of electricity has seriously affected healthcare, and many people have had to leave their homes because of the bombings.
Israeli attacks have caused the deaths of over 6,850 individuals in Gaza since October 7. This includes thousands of children. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah obtained this information from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave.
The international community is feeling more and more pressure to convince Israel to let aid into Gaza. The United Nations and some nearby countries are asking for an immediate stop to the fighting, while others want a temporary break to help with humanitarian relief. But the world has not been able to come together to deal with the crisis, even after almost three weeks since the violence started. The violence began after Hamas carried out terrible terror attacks on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 people in Israel and the kidnapping of over 200 people.
Riyad Mansour, the leader of the Palestinian Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, asked a direct question to UN diplomats on Thursday when he told them about Palestinians who were killed in Gaza.
Mansour said that most of the people who were killed are regular people, not soldiers or fighters. “Are you defending this war. ”
Countries who are part of the United Nations are getting ready to vote on a suggested plan made by Jordan for the Arab states. This comes after multiple unsuccessful attempts to agree on something by the United Nations Security Council.
The resolution asks for a stop in the fighting, the freeing of hostages, and for the Palestinian people to not be forced to move from their homes. However, the resolutions made by the General Assembly are not legally required to be followed.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, spoke to a group of diplomats and stated that punishing a whole group of people is not a justified response to defend oneself. He received applause when he expressed concern for the well-being of all individuals, regardless of their religion or nationality.
Gilad Erdan, who represents Israel at the UN, strongly criticized the resolution being discussed. He said that requesting a ceasefire is like trying to prevent Israel from protecting its citizens by eliminating a major threat.
The United States has said no to ceasefire proposals and instead wants short breaks to let humanitarian aid enter Gaza. The US has said that it fully supports Israel’s need to protect itself.
On Thursday, the European Union got together in Brussels and said that there should be breaks in fighting in Gaza to provide help to those in need. However, they didn’t ask for a complete stop to the fighting.
Israel has promised to completely destroy Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza. They have stated multiple times that after the current blockade, they will send in troops for a ground attack. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the War Cabinet of Israel would decide when to take action.
“We are aggressively attacking Hamas,” Netanyahu said on TV, while stating that Israel has already killed thousands of terrorists and there is more to come.
The prime minister admitted that he will be held responsible for the mistakes in intelligence that led to the biggest terrorist attack in Israeli history. He said that this will be thoroughly investigated after the war.
Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, said it has likely killed many of the top leaders in Hamas’ military division since they started attacking Gaza over two weeks ago. CNN cannot confirm Israel’s assessment and Hamas is not providing any comments on the number of fighters killed in Israeli attacks.
Israeli forces announced that they have killed a top Hamas official named Shadi Barud, who was involved in planning the October 7 attacks. This information was shared in a joint statement by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet). The Israeli military recently claimed that their intelligence reports indicate that air strikes have killed a leader of Hamas rocket units named Hassan Al-Abdullah. According to the military, he was in charge of these units in the Khan Younis area of Gaza.
The Israeli military and intelligence agency released a video that they say shows the attacks that caused the death of Barud. The video shows at least two buildings in Gaza that were damaged and seemed to collapse. Hamas hasn’t said anything about the statement.
Israel attacked Hamas targets in Gaza, causing significant damage to the densely populated area, which was already described as a prison by human rights organizations before the current conflict started.
New pictures from a satellite company called Maxar have been released. These pictures were taken on October 21. They show that there has been a lot of damage to places in northern Gaza. The houses in some neighborhoods in eastern Beit Hanoun have been completely destroyed. There has also been a lot of damage near the Al Shati Refugee Camp, Atatra, and Izbat Beit Hanoun.
The IDF advised people living in the busy northern area of the Palestinian enclave to leave because there has been intense bombing there. But it is also still attacking areas in the south, and a producer from CNN in Gaza said that there is nowhere safe.
During a press conference on Thursday, Ashraf Al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza, mentioned that 12 hospitals have stopped functioning ever since Israel’s air campaign started. Additionally, 101 medical staff members have unfortunately lost their lives.
He said that Israeli forces purposely made the healthcare system in Gaza fail by stopping fuel and important medical supplies from coming in. Israel is not letting fuel go into Gaza because they believe that Hamas uses it for military reasons instead of for the people.
On Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported that their leader in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh, tragically lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in an attack by Israel’s airstrikes. According to Al Jazeera, there was an explosion that happened in a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The family who lived in the house had been forced to leave their previous home and were staying there for safety. A statement from the family said that a total of 12 Al-Dahdouh family members died in the explosion. This includes nine kids.
The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) confirmed to CNN that they did launch an airstrike in the place where Al-Dahdouh’s family members were killed. They stated that their objective was to destroy Hamas’ terrorist facilities in that area.
The text means that when attacking military targets, it is important to follow the rules of international law. This includes taking steps to prevent innocent civilians from getting hurt.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), since the conflict started, 24 journalists have lost their lives as of Wednesday. According to CPJ, 20 Palestinians, 3 Israelis, and 1 Lebanese journalist were killed.
Busy hospitals about to fail say they have too many injured people coming in every day and doctors have told CNN many times that they don’t have the things they need to take care of them properly, like supplies and electricity. This affects not only those patients, but also others who need oxygen to stay alive.
Videos filmed by CNN journalists showed dead bodies wrapped in bags after bombings and lots of injured people, including kids, in hospitals that were very full.
About 14 million out of the 2 million people in Gaza have had to leave their homes since October 7. Currently, around 629,000 of them are staying in UN shelters, as reported by OCHA. Half of the people in Gaza are kids.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza said on Wednesday that it will have to stop providing aid within a day if it doesn’t receive fuel. This means that the essential help it offers to the local people will stop.
Tom White, the person in charge of helping people in Gaza, said that the workers who give aid will have to choose what kinds of help they can give to people and what they can’t.
“He asked if we supply fuel for desalination plants that create drinking water. He asked if we can provide fuel to hospitals. He asked if we can provide the fuel needed to make bread for the people in Gaza. ”
According to the UN humanitarian office, at least 38 United Nations workers have been killed.
At the same time in Moscow, people from Hamas had a meeting with an important person from the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday, as stated by Russian state media TASS and a statement from Hamas. According to TASS, the talks were about freeing the people who were being held by Hamas and getting Russians out of Gaza.
The Hamas group said they are very happy with what Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing and they think that the Russian diplomats are doing a great job. Mousa Abu Marzouk and Basem Naim, two important leaders of Hamas from Gaza, met with Mikhail Bogdanov, a Russian government official who focuses on the Middle East and Africa.
Israel became very angry when they heard about the meeting. Israel is unhappy about the invitation of important Hamas members to Moscow. They believe that this is supporting terrorism and making it seem like the terrible things that Hamas does are okay. Israel wants Russia to kick out the Hamas group right away.
Qatar is trying to help negotiate between Egypt, the US, Israel, and Hamas. The prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar said on Wednesday that they are hopeful for a positive outcome in talks to free the hostages being held by the militant group.
The hostage situation involves people from different countries.
Israel’s government press office stated that out of the total number of hostages being held by Hamas, which is more than half, 135 of them have foreign passports from 25 different countries.
There are 54 people from Thailand, 15 from Argentina, and 12 from Germany and the US included in the group.
Four people who were being held against their will – two from the United States and two from Israel – have been released up until now. Hamas is holding more people captive in Gaza, but negotiations to release them are still happening, according to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the foreign minister of Qatar.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he advised Netanyahu to try and free hostages in Gaza before launching a ground invasion if it’s possible.
But Biden clearly said “no” when asked if he had asked his Israeli counterpart to wait before invading the ground while the hostages are held.