JERUSALEM. The Israeli military launched a relentless wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, positioning itself for a possible ground invasion, and declared that the full blockade of the region, which has left Palestinians in dire need of food, fuel, and medicine, would remain in place until Hamas militants release approximately 150 hostages taken during a gruesome weekend incursion.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit, coupled with shipments of U.S. weaponry, effectively gave Israel the green light to intensify its retaliation in Gaza following Hamas’ deadly attack on civilians and soldiers. However, international aid organizations warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel halted the delivery of basic necessities and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants and prevented the entry of supplies from Egypt.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stated on social media, “Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home.”
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesperson, revealed on Thursday that forces were “preparing for a ground maneuver” if political leaders give the order.
A ground offensive in Gaza, a densely populated area ruled by Hamas, measuring only 40 kilometers (25 miles) in length, would likely result in even higher casualties on both sides due to brutal house-to-house combat.
Hamas’ attack on Saturday resulted in the deaths of over 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers – a death toll unseen in Israel for decades. In the following Israeli bombardment, more than 1,530 people in Gaza were killed, according to authorities on both sides. Israel claimed that around 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, with hundreds of casualties in Gaza being Hamas members. Thousands have been injured on both sides.
While Israel has pounded Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the conflict might spread throughout the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday shut down two Syrian international airports.
The relentless onslaught on Gaza, which the military said has involved 6,000 munitions thus far, left Palestinians running through the streets, carrying their belongings, and seeking safety.
A strike on Thursday afternoon in the Jabaliya refugee camp brought down a residential building where families sought shelter, resulting in at least 45 casualties, according to Gaza’s Interior Ministry. At least 23 of the deceased were under the age of 18, including a month-old child.
The home belonged to the al-Shihab family and was filled with relatives who had fled bombings in other areas. Neighbors reported that a second house was struck at the same time, but the exact toll was not immediately known. The Israeli military did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
“We can’t flee because anywhere you go, you are bombed,” said one neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia. “You need a miracle to survive here.”
By Wednesday night, approximately 340,000 people – roughly 15% of Gaza’s population – had fled their homes. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools, while others stayed with relatives or even strangers.
Families were forced to reduce their meals to one per day, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who had 32 relatives seeking shelter in his home. Water stopped flowing to the building two days ago, and they have been rationing the remaining water in a rooftop tank.
Gaza’s sole power station ran out of fuel on Wednesday and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators.
Hospitals, overwhelmed by a continuous influx of wounded patients and running out of supplies, have only a few days’ worth of fuel left before their power is cut off, according to aid officials.
“Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues,” warned Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Equipment such as newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-ray machines, and more, all rely on power.
Ambulance crews transporting bodies to Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, found no more space available in the morgue. Dozens of full body bags were lined up in the hospital’s parking lot. Health officials reported that fourteen healthcare facilities have been damaged in airstrikes.
With Israel imposing a blockade on the region, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. However, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry stated that airstrikes on Rafah have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been attempting to persuade Israel and the United States to allow aid and fuel to pass through the crossing.
Israel has adopted a new tactic of leveling entire neighborhoods, rather than targeting individual buildings. Hecht, the military spokesperson, stated that targeting decisions were based on intelligence regarding locations used by Hamas and that civilians were given warnings.
“Right now, we are focused on taking out their senior leadership,” Hecht explained. The military indicated that the strikes have targeted Hamas’ elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters in Saturday’s attack, as well as the home of a senior Hamas naval operative used for weapon storage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “crush” Hamas following the militants’ incursion into the country’s south on Saturday, where they killed hundreds of people, including children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu claimed that Hamas’ atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, allegations that could not be independently verified immediately.
As grief and calls for vengeance sweep across the Israeli public, the government faces immense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to contain it in Gaza.
In a video released on Thursday, civilian Hamas figures defended the group’s actions and lamented the civilian deaths in Gaza resulting from six days of Israeli airstrikes. The video conveyed a somber tone and lacked the bravado of a recording broadcast by Hamas’s military wing on Saturday, which hailed “the greatest battle” as the massacres were still taking place.
Basem Naim, a former Hamas government minister, claimed that in the “swift collapse” of the Israeli military on Saturday, “chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation.” This claim contradicts numerous videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing civilians in Israel.
Naim added that there would be no action taken to free the 150 captives held in Gaza while Israel’s operation continued.
Funerals continued across Israel, and families of French-Israeli citizens who have been missing since the attack made emotional appeals for information.
“We don’t know if she is dead, if she is in Gaza. We don’t know anything. We haven’t heard anything,” said Doron Journo, whose 24-year-old daughter, Karin Journo, disappeared on Saturday.
Growing anger over Israeli military and intelligence failures in the surprise attack is being directed at Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has been pushing for a contentious legal overhaul that has divided the country and affected the military.
In what appears to be the first admission of fault from a government member, Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch told Israeli news outlet Ynet: “We are responsible. I, as a member of the government, am responsible. We were dealing with nonsense.”
Israel’s public diplomacy minister resigned, marking the first crack in Netanyahu’s government since the conflict began.
In four previous conflicts, Hamas remained firmly in control of the territory it has governed since 2007. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, deployed forces near Gaza, and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. A new war Cabinet, including a long-time opposition politician, was sworn in on Thursday to oversee the conflict.
A senior Hamas official, Saleh Al-Arouri, warned on Thursday that any Israeli invasion of Gaza “will turn into a disaster for its army,” asserting that the group is prepared to respond.
Blinken’s visit underscored American support for Israel’s retaliation.
“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists, you will never have to,” Blinken said after a meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.
Blinken also indicated that he told Netanyahu it was “so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to visit Israel on Friday.
