As Israel continues bombardments in the Gaza Strip, Hamas claimed on Thursday that Israeli airstrikes in Gaza resulted in the deaths of nearly 50 people whom its militants had taken as captives in violent cross-border attacks.
The Palestine-based terror group launched a surprise attack on October 7, the worst in Israeli history, and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 224 more.
Israel has responded with continuous airstrikes and over 7,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry. The toll is expected to increase significantly if Israeli forces stationed near the border launch an offensive.
UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynne Hastings, stated that despite the Israeli military’s warnings to the population of Gaza City to evacuate, it appears that these advance notifications have had little impact.
She said in a statement that when evacuation routes are bombed, “people are left with nothing but impossible choices. Nowhere is safe in Gaza.”
Top Israel Hamas War Updates:
- Al-Qassam Brigades estimates that the number of Zionist prisoners who were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of Zionist strikes and massacres has reached almost 50, the group said in a statement issued on its Telegram channel.
- Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry said Gaza death toll has risen to 7,028 which includes 2,913 children, as per Spectator Index.
- Israel’s IDF said Hamas continues to use the civilians of Gaza as human shields, not allowing them to evacuate.
- EU leaders will debate calling for “pauses” in Israel’s war with Hamas to get aid into Gaza, as the bloc weighs how to respond to another conflict as fighting rages in Ukraine.
- Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said if the “Zionists launch a ground attack in Gaza”, they will be buried, according to i24 News.
- An IDF Spokesperson on Thursday said 224 families of Hamas hostages have been notified, bringing the number of hostages up.
- The death of more than 200 foreigners in the Hamas attack, many of whom had double nationality, has been confirmed by their respective countries, according to an AFP count.
- Shadi Barud, the Hamas deputy of intelligence who was allegedly responsible for planning the October 7th massacre, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
- Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Khulaifi, who plays a key role as the chief negotiator with Hamas, informed Sky News that negotiations aimed at securing the release of Israeli hostages have been challenging, but progress is being made by the mediators.
- The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister said Israel’s offensive in Gaza was a “war of revenge”, as he called for a ceasefire in the conflict.
- Pope Francis spoke to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday about the war between Hamas and Israel, emphasising the importance of a two-state solution, the Vatican said.(With AFP inputs)