Israel on Sunday unleashed its 10,000th airstrike on Gaza since the war began on October 7, with at least 700 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours alone as the war escalates again after the ceasefire.
“Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, representative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Israel Defense Forces said that since Israel’s ground invasion of northern Gaza began in early October, it has launched 10,000 airstrikes on the Palestinian-controlled area, with shelling intensifying over the weekend after that Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement that would have seen all the hostages kidnapped by the terrorist group released.
A key Hamas commander who helped carry out deadly attacks on Israel in early October was killed in an attack on Sunday, Israeli officials said.
“Following the IDF and [Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet] According to intelligence services, an IDF fighter jet attacked and killed Haitham Khuwajari, the commander of Hamas’ Shati Battalion,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters on Sunday.
The developments came as the United States killed five militants in Iraq as they prepared to launch a drone strike against American forces there, officials said.
The deadly US airstrike was a “self-defense strike against an imminent threat” near the northern city of Kirkuk, Reuters reported, citing a trio of Iraqi security forces.
Palestinians who sought refuge in southern Gaza now see war engulf the area after the end of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. AFP via Getty Images
The militants were killed while preparing rockets in a drone staging area, the sources said.
The Islamic Resistance group in Iraq, which represents several groups linked to Tehran, confirmed the deaths and vowed to retaliate against the United States.
Meanwhile, the IDF said on Sunday that it is now expanding its ground operations to cover the entire Gaza Strip.
Israel said more than 400 targets in northern Gaza have been struck since Friday, and the Hamas-run Health Ministry said at least 700 people have been killed in the new bombings, one of the highest daily death tolls on record. since the war began.
“Our policy is clear: we will strongly attack any threat that arises against our territory,” Hagari said.
As of Sunday, the Gaza Health Ministry estimates that more than 15,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have died as a result of the war.
As Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes over the weekend, Hamas responded with missile strikes against the Jewish state. AFP via Getty Images
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters on Sunday that while he agreed that “too many people have died in this war,” the blame for the deaths lies solely with Hamas thanks to its sneak attack on 7 October that killed 1,200 people in Israel.
“The Israeli military has made every effort to fulfill our obligations under international law and put civilians out of harm’s way,” he said.
OCHA estimates that around 1.8 million people in Gaza, almost 80%, have been displaced by violence.
About 80% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, according to the UN. AFP via Getty Images
While hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been evacuated to southern Gaza since fighting began, Israel said it launched an “extensive attack” on Saturday on the region’s town of Khan Younis, which had become a hub for refugees and wounded. Israel has said it is warning civilians to flee the areas before bombing them.
One Jewish soldier was killed in Saturday’s fighting and another died from wounds suffered three weeks ago when the army further invaded the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli military said.
According to the IDF, a total of 66 Jewish soldiers have been killed since the ground incursion began last month.
Family members mourn the death of 20-year-old IDF Sergeant Aschalwu Sama. Getty Images Sama’s funeral on Saturday marked the 65th soldier killed during the ground invasion of Gaza. AFP via Getty Images
As the war enters its ninth week, the Israeli military also confirmed that Has destroyed at least 500 of the 800 tunnel shafts it has found across northern Gaza, including many “near or inside kindergartens, schools, playgrounds and mosques.”
“To be clear, these places are not child-proof, but rather filled with terrorism,” the IDF wrote in X on Sunday over video footage of some of the tunnel entrances. “Every tunnel and every weapon we find is further evidence of how Hamas deliberately uses Gaza residents for its terrorist agenda against Israelis.”
The shafts lead to the roughly 300-mile-long underground tunnel systems that the terrorist group uses to operate beneath Gaza, Israel has said.
“Some of the tunnels connected Hamas’ strategic assets through the underground tunnel network. Additionally, many kilometers of tunnel routes have been destroyed,” the IDF said.
The IDF says it has destroyed around 500 of the 800 tunnels it discovered in northern Gaza. IDF Many of the entrances and exits to the tunnels were located in civilian buildings such as schools, mosques and hospitals, Israel said. IDF
The Israeli military previously released chilling images of tunnels and corridors located beneath a mosque and al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza City.
“These findings are further evidence of the Hamas terrorist organization’s cynical use of the civilian population as a human shield and cover for its terrorist activity,” the Israeli military said.
As the fighting intensifies, the fate of the approximately 137 people still held captive by Hamas in Gaza remains up in the air.
“We will do everything possible to get everyone back,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night, attributing the release of more than 100 hostages during the truce deal to military pressure.
Displaced Palestinians flee further south as Israel begins ground operations in the area. AFP via Getty Images
As it faces renewed fighting in Gaza, the Jewish state is also focusing on protecting its borders after Hezbollah terrorists launched an anti-tank guided missile on Sunday, wounding several IDF soldiers, the Times of Israel reports.
Rocket attacks from Lebanon set off sirens in northern Israel, and the IDF responded with airstrikes against several Hezbollah sites.
The Iran-backed terrorist group has continued to launch missile attacks against Israel as a form of solidarity with Hamas.
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