More than 900 Israelis and some 700 Palestinians have been killed amid heavy fighting and bombardment following the largest attack by the Palestinian armed group Hamas against Israel in decades.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday authorities would impose a total blockade on the Gaza Strip, cutting electricity and blocking food and fuel supplies as part of “a complete siege” on the Hamas-run enclave.
It came as Gaza’s Ministry of Health said more than 700 Palestinians had been killed and 3726 more had been wounded in Israeli air raids on the enclave since Saturday, when Hamas launched its multipronged offensive on Israel.
In Israel, the number of people killed has reached 900, with more than 4,200 also wounded.
The Israeli military said it hit more than 1,000 targets in Gaza, including air raids that levelled much of the town of Beit Hanoon, known as Erez to Israelis, in the enclave’s northeast corner. The United Nations said more than 123,000 Palestinians in Gaza had been displaced amid the intense bombardment.
In Gaza, a tiny enclave of 2.3 million people sealed off by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade for 16 years, residents feared further escalation.
Al Jazeera’s Jamileh Abu Zanoona, reporting from Gaza, said the territory’s Shujayea neighbourhood was targeted by heavy bombardment on Monday.
A fourth mosque was destroyed in an overnight Israeli air raid on the Yarmouk neighbourhood in Gaza, forcing thousands more people to evacuate their homes, Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed reported.
“Dozens of homes were destroyed and are inhabitable,” ElSayed said.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, told reporters that Israel has taken “control” of its communities following the mass incursion of Hamas fighters.
Hagari said there had been some isolated incidents on Monday morning, but that “at this stage, there is no fighting in the communities”.
He added that “there might still be terrorists in the region”.
…As US aids Israel with weapons, warship
Meanwhile, the United States of America, USA, which provides about $3bn in annual military aid to Israel, has ordered the movement of military ships and aircraft closer to Israel as a show of support to its strongest ally, Israel.
Here’s the US military support for Israel:
Navy ships
• The USS Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group will be moved to the Eastern Mediterranean alongside its accompanying warships.
• The USS Ford is the US Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, alongside being one of the largest in the world. The carrier hosts a guided missile cruiser and four guided missile destroyers.
BREAKING: 🇺🇸🇮🇱 The United States Navy is moving at speed US Navy Warships and Aircraft Carriers and US military combat aircraft to the State of Israel to demonstrate support and defense of our Israeli Allies. pic.twitter.com/oEp5o6FuJa
— vanhoa (@vanhoa2272) October 9, 2023
• The US is additionally sending USS Normandy, a guided missile cruiser armed with naval guns, and destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt.
• Austin said that the US is augmenting Air Force F-35, the most advanced fighter jet in the world, along with the F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.
“I do not understand in strategic military terms why the US would send aircraft carriers – with some 5,000 sailors on it – and the most sophisticated aircraft in the world when Israel is more than capable of dealing with Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” said Al-Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara.
Bishara called the US decision to move the Ford Carrier a major escalation.
Munitions
• US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that the US would provide munitions to Israel.
• “We don’t know exactly what kind of munitions, but it is suspected that Israel has requested both interceptors and precision-guided munitions,” said Al-Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Washington, DC.
🇵🇸🇮🇱 Pro-Palestine Jews show their support for Palestine. pic.twitter.com/l4OjK3yaE3
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) October 9, 2023
• Hendren said that the interceptors are for Israel’s Iron Dome defence system. Those are the devices that strike the Hamas rockets and in some cases cause them to harmlessly explode in the air rather than land.
• The Al-Jazeera correspondent said that $2bn worth of US munitions have been pre-supplied in six different locations in Israel that can be used in case of emergencies.
‘Stop funding Israel’, pro-Palestinian protesters tell US govt
Muslim News gathered that thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters held a solidarity rally on Sunday afternoon in many America States, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, among others, where they all expressed support for Hamas for protecting the sanctity of Aqsa and protecting the defenseless Palestinians.
At a "Palestine Solidarity Campaign" protest in Manchester today, people shouted for the terrorists slaughtering Jews and called for the annihilation of Israel. pic.twitter.com/n0AaD0EUYC
— habibi (@habibi_uk) October 8, 2023
In Atlanta, hundreds of Palestinian supporters demonstrated at the Israeli consulate on Sunday afternoon, chanting slogans in support of Hamas and calling for an end to US’ aid to Israel.
“We’re here because we think everyone in the United States is funding Israeli apartheid,” said Natalie Villasana, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She said U.S. military aid would be better spent on problems in the United States, although demonstrators also argued that Hamas’ actions were justified by Israeli aggressions.
CHICAGO
In Chicago, Priscilla Reed was among hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who rallied outside the Israeli consulate. Many waved Palestinian flags or wore keffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarfs that have come to symbolize Palestinian solidarity. Their chants, in both English and Arabic, included, “Netanyahu you will see, Palestine will be free!”
Reed, a retired teacher, said the attacks by Hamas were in response to Israel’s “systemic daily violence against Palestinians.”
– Source: Al Jazeera and pbs.org
