International supplies piled up near Gaza on Friday, with Palestinians in desperate need of food and water following Israel’s continuous bombing, which is still reeling from the worst strike in its history.
According to Israeli sources, Hamas launched a huge offensive from the Gaza Strip on October 7, murdering at least 1,400 individuals, mostly civilians who were shot, maimed, or burned to death.
In addition, Hamas terrorists kidnapped approximately 200 people, including foreigners from more than a dozen nations ranging from Paraguay to Tanzania.
In response, Israeli warplanes have destroyed entire city blocks in Gaza in preparation for an impending ground invasion. According to the most recent toll from the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 3,785 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the bombing.
According to the UN, more than one million of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced, and the humanitarian situation is worse by the day, with no green signal to send in the trucks parked at the border.
An AFP correspondent spotted medicine, water purifiers, and blankets being unloaded at El Arish airport in Gaza, with Ahmed Ali, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent, saying he was getting “two to three planes of aid a day.”
The situation inside Gaza is “beyond catastrophic,” according to Sara Alzawqari, UNICEF’s Gulf spokesman. “Time is running out and the numbers of casualties amongst children are rising.”
The Egyptian state-linked channel Al Qahera News had predicted that the Rafah crossing, the only way into Gaza, would reopen on Friday, but Cairo later stated that road repairs would take longer.
The WHO’s emergency director described a compromise negotiated by US President Joe Biden to allow in 20 trucks as “a drop in the ocean of need” in Geneva.
“It should be 2,000 trucks,” Michael Ryan said.
Fight like lions
The drumbeat of war was getting louder within Israel, which was still reeling from the bloodiest strike in its 75-year history, as officials prepared troops for a ground offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dressed in body armor, visited front-line troops near Gaza, urging them to “fight like lions” and “win with full force.”
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also visited the front lines, informing the tens of thousands of troops awaiting the ground invasion that new orders would be sent soon.
“Right now you see Gaza from afar, soon you will see it from the inside. The order will come soon,” he said, predicting “difficult” battles ahead.
The horror of what Israel experienced on October 7 and subsequent days was still being revealed as traumatized Israelis recalled their experiences.
Shachar Butler, the security head of the Nir Oz kibbutz, where Hamas militants murdered or kidnapped a fourth of the 400 residents, recalls more than a dozen gunmen spraying bullets and throwing grenades at homes.
“It’s unimaginable,” the 40-year-old told AFP as part of a trip organised by the Israeli military.
“Anytime someone tried to touch my window, I shot him,” he said. “The people who came out got kidnapped, killed, executed, slaughtered.”
Butler claimed that up to 200 militants attacked the kibbutz from three sides before going house-to-house. Homes were still scorched, with burning personal possessions strewn about.
According to Israel, around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in fighting before its forces reclaimed control of the districts under attack.
Holding the world together
During a rare address from the Oval Office, Biden urged the United States to take the lead in supporting Israel and Ukraine, saying he would make an “urgent” request to Congress for aid later Friday.
“American leadership is what holds the world together,” Biden said in just the second primetime speech to the nation of his presidency from behind the historic Resolute Desk.
While solidly backing Israel, he also pointed to the plight of those trapped in Gaza, saying they “urgently need food, water and medicine”.
Biden, who just returned from a quick trip to Israel, is attempting to avert a wider Middle East conflict.
The US has already sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean to discourage Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, both Hamas backers, from intervening.
However, fears of a larger conflict are mounting, with Israel announcing plans to evacuate the northern city of Kiryat Shmona following days of confrontations with Hezbollah fighters along the border with Lebanon.
Key Middle Eastern leaders such as Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have warned that the conflict could escalate and criticized what they called the “collective punishment” of Gazans.
Incident under review
Meanwhile, the two sides continued to trade blame for deadly attacks, the most recent of which occurred late Thursday at a church compound in Gaza.
The Hamas-controlled interior ministry said that several persons sheltering at the church were killed or injured as a result of an Israeli strike.
According to witnesses, the strike destroyed the church’s exterior and caused an adjacent building to fall, and several injured persons were taken to hospitals.
The Israeli army stated that one of its air strikes had damaged a church wall while targeting a “command and control center belonging to a Hamas terrorist.”
“We are aware of reports on casualties. The incident is under review,” a spokesperson told AFP.