According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 24,927 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,300 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023.
The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said that 165 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 280 injured in the past 24 hours.
This came as Israel continued its strikes in the south of the Gaza Strip on Saturday after the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the U.S President, Joe Biden, discussed their differences over a post-war future for Palestinians which have suggested a rift between the two allies.
Witnesses said that the Israeli bombardment was again focused overnight on Khan Younis, the largest city in Hamas-controlled Gaza’s south, although Palestinian media also reported intense fire around Jabalia in the north early on Saturday.
The Israeli army has said for some time that they believe all of Hamas’s leadership as well as an abundance of fighters are in this southern city.
The Israeli army also stated that they believe captives are being held in tunnels underneath Khan Younis.
The focus on Khan Younis comes as the Israeli army said that they have fully dismantled Hamas’s military capabilities in the north.
This is not entirely true because there are still pockets of fighters – there are still rockets being launched from there.
The Israeli army even noted that there are exchanges of fire in Gaza City, but in southern Gaza is where they say they are shifting a lot of their focus on the hopes of retrieving the captives while also dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities there.
However, that challenge is going to prove quite difficult given the many displaced Palestinians there.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza remains dire, with Israeli air strikes preventing aid packages from reaching the embattled population.
“People have returned to primitive methods for food preparation and general hygiene, to make bread,” said Mohammed Abu Msbeh, Director of ambulances and emergency centres in the Strip.
He said, “The daily struggle for water is a daily torment for Gaza residents to secure life-sustaining droplets, who stand in large crowds for hours with containers.”
He added, “The level of pollution in Gaza and the north raises alarming concerns about consecutive and serious health threats, as well as the potential spread of epidemics.”
Additionally, the UN Secretary-General noted that he will not relent in his calls for a ceasefire and release of hostages.
Antonio Guterres posted on X that the mass death of Palestinians in Gaza “must stop.”
“People in Gaza are dying not only from bombs and bullets, but from lack of food & clean water, and hospitals without power & medicine,” he wrote.
Israel Far From “Destroying” Hamas In Gaza
A report by U.S intelligence agencies stated that Hamas has lost 20-30 percent of its fighters after months of Israel’s war on Gaza, meaning it is far from being destroyed.
A report by the U.S news outlet, Wall Street Journal noted that the agencies also found that Hamas still has enough weaponry to continue striking Israeli forces and launch rockets into Israel “for months.”
It said that even though individual Hamas fighters may have to take on more tasks since they have lost comrades, they are far from being incapacitated and have changed their operational tactics to adjust.
The report also said Israeli officials estimate up to 16,000 Hamas fighters have been wounded and about half of those will not be returning to the battlefield.
However, U.S estimates put that number between 10,500 and 11,700 fighters, many of whom could return.
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