Gaza witnessed intense raids last night with Israeli army claiming a top Hamas commander and several operatives being killed in air attacks on 150 "underground targets" in the northern part of the blockaded strip.
Here are the top 10 points in this big story:
- Israeli army said its fighter jets had struck 150 “underground targets” in northern Gaza, including “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure.” “Several Hamas terrorists were killed,” they said.
- Israel this morning claimed that Hamas air assault chief Abu Rakaba was killed in overnight airstrikes. "Abu Rakaba was responsible for Hamas' UAVs, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and defense. He took part in planning the October 7 massacre and commanded the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders and was responsible for the drone attacks on IDF posts," said their defence forces.
- Last night, Israeli forces announced expanding their ground operations in the blockaded strip ruled by Hamas, a Palestinian group that carried out the October 7 terror attacks in Israel. Hamas has vowed to confront the attacks with "full force". "The Al-Qassam brigades and all the Palestinian resistance forces are completely ready to confront (Israel's) aggression with full force and frustrate its incursions," they said today.
- Israel has unleashed one of its fiercest bombardments in Gaza, cutting off phone and internet links across the strip. Human Rights Watch, an NGO, has expressed concern that a communication blackout risks providing cover for mass atrocities. Hamas has accused Israel of taking the measure "to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea."
- Israel has accused the Hamas group of using Gaza's biggest hospital as its headquarter and abusing other hospitals for military purposes, a charge that the group has denied. Reports suggest the areas around Al Shifa Hospital, the main hospital in Gaza City, was hit with air strikes.
- Over 1,400, mostly civilians, have died in Israel, according to officials. In the Gaza strip, at least 7,326 people have been killed in Israel's retaliatory strikes, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. These included mainly civilians and many of them children.
- The UN General Assembly has called for an "immediate humanitarian truce" in Gaza. Hamas welcomed the truce call, but Israel and the US critcised the non-binding resolution for failing to mention Hamas. It received 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions (including India) from UN members.
- Hundreds of protesters on Friday forced shut the Grand Central Terminal in New York, one of the city's major transit hubs, demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Visuals on social media showed protesters coming out of the railway station and on the streets.
- The White House said the US backs a ceasefire to allow aid to get into Gaza. "We would support humanitarian pauses for stuff getting in, as well as for people getting out, and that includes pushing for fuel to get in and for the restoration of electrical power," said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
- The war began October 7 after Hamas launched a barrage of rockets at Israel and hundreds of their operatives breached the Gaza border, going on a rampage in Israeli border towns, killing and kidnapping civilians. Israel swiftly declared an all-out war and bombarded Gaza, following on with a ground offensive inside the strip.
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