Israel has significantly increased its strikes in Gaza, resulting in renewed death and destruction throughout the enclave. The Israel Defense Forces announced that it had struck over 450 targets in the last 24 hours—the most since its ceasefire with Hamas broke down last week. The rise in strikes unfolded on the same day that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concerns over the “gap” between Israel’s “intent to protect civilians and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground.”
Israel launched a new phase of its war this week, initiating a new attack in the south of Gaza. The humanitarian situation was already desperate with many Gazans displaced and unable to access aid at the same time that the local medical system has been overwhelmed by an unprecedented influx of patients. “Civil order is breaking down in Gaza—the streets feel wild, especially after dark—some aid convoys are being robbed and UN vehicles stoned,” wrote Thomas White, the Gaza head of the U.N.’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees. “Society is on the edge of full-blown collapse.” He stated his agency is continuing “to serve the population with what [limited] aid we have.”
Both the Israeli military and local citizens report intense fighting in the north and south of Gaza, according to Reuters, even after Israel claimed to have completed most of its military goals in the north last month. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported 350 people died on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to over 17,170 in the conflict.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks which left 1,200 people dead. Eitan Levy, a 52-year-old cab driver who took a passenger to a kibbutz attacked on Oct. 7, was confirmed to have died in Hamas captivity, according to The Times of Israel, though it’s unclear when his death occurred.
The overwhelming majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been made homeless in the fighting in the last two months, with many residents saying there is nowhere safe to seek shelter as Israel’s operation has expanded.
On Thursday, images circulated online showing Palestinian men being apprehended by Israel, with the video apparently showing the captives stripped to their underwear and being made to kneel. Amidst a furore over accusations of inhumane treatment, Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told the BBC on Friday the men had been arrested in Jabalia and Shejaiya in northern Gaza which Levy called “Hamas stronghold and center of mass.” He also stated the detainees were “military age males” found “in areas that civilians were supposed to have left weeks earlier.”
