An Israeli ground operation is coming: negotiations have begun on the withdrawal of civilians from Gaza

The United States is discussing the possibility of creating safe passage for Gazan civilians as the Israeli air force continues to strike the enclave and the death toll in the Hamas offensive – the deadliest militant attack in the Islamist group’s history – has reached 1,200, The Guardian writes. .

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that negotiations on safe passage were underway with Israel and Egypt: “We are focused on this issue, consultations are ongoing. But the details of this are being discussed by the operational services, and I don’t want to talk too much about it publicly right now.”

The announcement followed requests from humanitarian groups for corridors to bring aid into Gaza and warnings that the strip’s hospitals, overwhelmed by the wounded, were running low on supplies. Israel has cut off the entry of food, fuel and medicine into Gaza, and the only remaining access from Egypt to Rafah was closed on Tuesday after airstrikes near the border crossing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there were 11 strikes on Gaza’s medical facilities in the first 36 hours of the conflict. “There is an urgent need to establish a humanitarian corridor for the smooth flow of life-saving patients, humanitarian personnel and essential medical supplies,” WHO said.

Recall that on Saturday morning of the Jewish holiday, the militant organization Hamas launched a surprise attack from the Gaza Strip, during which militants crossed the border, raiding Israeli cities and shooting civilians in their homes, cars and at a music festival in the desert. It is believed that the militants took up to 150 hostages.

Amid growing expectations that Israel will launch a ground invasion of Gaza within days, the Israeli air force continued to carry out deadly strikes on the Palestinian enclave late Tuesday, using dozens of fighter jets to hit more than 70 targets, according to Israeli military officials.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said Wednesday morning that 300,000 reservists had been sent south, closer to Gaza, and were preparing to “carry out the mission that the Israeli government has given us… to make sure that Hamas , at the end of this war, will not have any military capabilities with which they could threaten or kill Israeli civilians.”

In the Rimal neighborhood of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian civil defense forces rescued local resident Abdullah Musleh from his basement along with 30 others after their apartment building was razed to the ground, The Guardian reports. “I sell toys, not rockets,” cried the 46-year-old man. – I want to leave Gaza. Why should I stay here? I lost my home and my job.”

In a new tactic, Israel warns civilians to evacuate area by area and then carries out destruction in what could be a prelude to a ground offensive. On Tuesday, the Israeli military ordered residents of the al-Daraj area to evacuate. Soon this and other areas were rocked by new explosions that continued throughout the night.

One explosion rocked the Gaza City seaport, setting fishing boats on fire. “There is no safe place in Gaza right now. You see decent people being killed every day,” Gaza-based journalist Hassan Jabar said after three Palestinian journalists were killed in the Rimal bombing. “I am truly afraid for my life.”

Sporadic fighting continued in southern Israel on Tuesday evening as a group of militants entered an industrial zone in Ashkelon, sparking a firefight with Israeli troops, the military said. Three militants were killed and troops combed the area for others, The Guardian writes.

At least 900 Palestinians have been killed and up to 4,600 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said. More than 260,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in an updated report on Tuesday, warning that “this number is expected to rise further.”

The enclave, which is 40 km long and 10 km wide, is home to 2.3 million people.

Israeli military spokesman Conricus confirmed early Wednesday that the Israeli death toll now stood at 1,200 with more than 2,700 injured after the unprecedented attack on Saturday. The already “unimaginable” figure would rise, he said, and the vast majority of those killed were civilians. The rising death toll was the result of new discoveries of victims, not new fighting, he said.

Conricus added that Israeli forces had regained control in the south and restored barriers along the border that Hamas breached to launch Saturday’s attack.

About 150 people are believed to be held captive by militants in Gaza, with Hamas threatening to begin executing hostages if Israel carries out airstrikes on civilians without “prior warning.”

Israeli authorities said Tuesday that the bodies of more than 1,500 Hamas militants have been recovered inside Israel, providing the clearest picture yet of the scale of last weekend’s attack. It is unclear whether these figures coincide with the deaths reported by the Palestinian authorities, The Guardian notes.

Fresh gun battles on Israel’s northern borders with militants in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday pointed to the risk of the regional conflict widening.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it responded to mortar attacks from the Golan Heights with artillery fire. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. The annexation of this strategic area in 1981 is not recognized by the United Nations. It was the first exchange of fire between Israel and Syria since Hamas carried out its unprecedented attack on Saturday.

On Tuesday evening, Joe Biden said the Hamas attack was “reminiscent of the worst atrocities of ISIS” and pledged unwavering support for Israel. The US president called the attack “an act of sheer evil” and said at least 14 Americans were killed in the attack, with an unknown number of US citizens among many currently being held hostage.

The US State Department announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel in the coming days to convey a message of solidarity and support to the Jewish state.