Israel’s army chief on Tuesday said its war with Hamas would last “many more months,” as the military stepped up strikes inside the Gaza Strip, where more than 20,000 people have already been reported killed.
Concerns over a spiraling humanitarian crisis inside the besieged territory have amplified calls for an end to the hostilities, while incidents linked to Iran-backed groups acting in solidarity with Hamas have fanned fears of a wider regional conflict.
On Tuesday, the US reported shooting down a barrage of drones and missiles over the Red Sea fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Photo: EPA-EFE
However, Israel’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to keep up their offensive until Hamas is destroyed, and Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Herzi Halevi signaled there would be no quick end to the war.
“This war’s objectives are essential and not simple to achieve,” Halevi said. “Therefore, the war will continue for many more months.”
The war erupted when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, an Agence France-Presse tally based on Israeli figures showed.
During the attack — the deadliest in Israel’s history — Hamas also took about 250 hostages, of whom 129 remain inside Gaza, Israel says.
Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment and a siege followed by a ground invasion.
The campaign has killed at least 20,915 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll issued by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Since the siege went into effect, Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been suffering severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine, with only limited aid entering the territory.
An estimated 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, the UN says.
In the southern city of Rafah, where many displaced people have sought refuge, hundreds turned up at the Abdul Salam Yassin water company on Tuesday carrying baskets, pulling handcarts and even pushing a wheelchair stacked with bottles to line up for clean water.
“This was my father’s cart,” Rafah resident Amir al-Zahhar said. “He was martyred during the war. He used it to transport and sell fish, and now we are using it to transport fresh water.”
Elsewhere in the city, people split logs and stacked kindling as the lack of fuel forced them to burn wood for cooking and to keep warm.
One woman took advantage of the sunshine on Tuesday to wash her family’s clothes by hand.
“I’ve pleaded with people for water. I have absolutely nothing. I’ve borrowed everything, even the blankets, from others,” she said.
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