Global Courant
According to reports, the United States is urging Israel to postpone its expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, hundreds are said to have been killed as Israel continues to bomb the Palestinian enclave, with minor fighting between ground forces also reported.
President Joe Biden’s administration has advised Israel to delay its invasion plan to allow time for the release of hostages and aid shipments to Gaza, US officials quoted by The New York Times newspaper on Monday.
The report, which also suggests Washington is concerned about preparing for attacks on US interests in the region, remains unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have intensified. About 400 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, according to Palestinian health officials.
The Hamas-controlled government media agency in the blockaded Gaza Strip said in a statement that more than 60 people were killed in Israeli raids overnight.
At least 10 other people were killed in further attacks on Monday morning, the media agency said in a separate statement, bringing the total death toll since Sunday evening to at least 70.
The Israeli army said Monday morning that it had hit “more than 320 military targets in the Gaza Strip” in the past 24 hours.
“Terror targets affected include tunnels containing Hamas terrorists, dozens of operational command centers … and Islamic Jihad terrorists, military complexes and observation posts,” the report said in a statement.
Ground forces clash
Hamas fighters were battling Israeli forces who infiltrated the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to the Palestinian group’s Qassam Brigades armed wing.
The group said the infiltration took place east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza region.
“Fighters engaged the infiltrating force, destroying two bulldozers and a tank and forcing the force to withdraw before returning safely to base,” the statement said.
The Israeli army also said one of its soldiers was killed and three were injured in Sunday’s clash, adding that the aim was to locate prisoners held by Hamas.
On Monday, Israel’s top military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing detailing Israel’s latest steps on the ground that Hamas had captured 222 people on October 7.
Thousands of people, both Israelis and Palestinians, have died since October 7 (Jack Guez/AFP)
“During the night there were raids by tank and infantry troops. These are raids that kill groups of terrorists preparing for the next phase of the war,” Hagari said, describing raids that penetrated “deep” into Gaza.
“These raids also locate and search for anything we can get in terms of intelligence on the missing and the hostages.”
Hagari said such interventions helped understand where “the terrorists are gathering, (and how) the terrorists are organizing in anticipation of the next phases of the war. And our role is to reduce these threats.”
Delay
The unconfirmed New York Times report said the Biden administration wants to buy time for negotiations with Hamas over the release of the prisoners and ensure more humanitarian aid reaches Gaza.
It added that US officials also wanted more time to prepare for possible attacks on US interests in the region by Iranian-backed groups, which officials said are likely to intensify once Israel fully moves its forces into Gaza.
Israel has been attacking Gaza for more than two weeks.
The violence has killed at least 1,400 people in Israel and more than 4,650 people in Gaza.
During the campaign, tens of thousands of Israeli troops are massing along the enclave’s borders for a long-awaited ground invasion.
Israel has told more than a million residents in northern Gaza to move south for their safety, and the United Nations says more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million residents are now displaced.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to remain in and around Gaza City in the north, unwilling or unable to leave.
