“We are going to intensify attacks”: Israel announced the next stage of the war

Israeli troops carried out airstrikes on the southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday and vowed to intensify attacks in the enclave’s north, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his cabinet late Saturday to discuss an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, The Guardian writes.

Palestinian media reported that at least 11 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis and that Israel carried out strikes on the southern city of Rafah.

The strikes came hours after Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called on Gazans to move south “for your own safety.” He said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would increase airstrikes starting Saturday in preparation for the next phase of the war.

“We will deepen our attacks to minimize the danger to our forces in the next stages of the war. From today we are going to intensify attacks,” said Hagari.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday that Israeli retaliatory attacks had already killed at least 4,385 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, and displaced more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million residents. It followed an attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in a shock outbreak that traumatized Israel.

Late Saturday, the United States said it would send more air defense systems to the Middle East and prepare to send more troops following attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and militant warnings against American intervention to support Israel in the fight against Hamas.

Israel has massed tanks and troops near the fenced border around Gaza for a planned ground invasion to destroy Hamas after several inconclusive wars since it seized power there in 2007. “We are going to go into the Gaza Strip… to destroy Hamas militants and Hamas infrastructure,” Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told troops in a video released by the Israeli military on Saturday.

Israeli airstrikes also struck the West Bank early Sunday, hitting a mosque complex that the military said was used by Hamas militants. The airstrike was at least the second in recent days to hit the West Bank, where Hamas attacked 7 October violence increased sharply.

Israel said that the complex under the al-Ansar mosque in the Jenin refugee camp belonged to militants from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group (recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation), who were planning an imminent attack. The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said at least one Palestinian was killed and three others were wounded.

The military published photographs which they said showed the entrance to the bunker under the mosque. The IDF also released a diagram that allegedly shows where militants stored weapons there.

Canada’s national defense department said late Saturday that Israel was not behind the Oct. 17 bombing of Al Ahly Hospital in Gaza. “Analysis conducted independently by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command indicates with a high degree of confidence that Israel did not strike Al Ahly Hospital on October 17, 2023,” the statement said.

The Defense Department said the strike was likely caused by a misguided missile fired from Gaza, based on an analysis of open sources and classified communications. Canada’s findings are similar to those of France and the United States, The Guardian writes.

Canada said its assessment was based on an analysis of the damage caused by the explosion to the hospital complex, including adjacent buildings and the area around the hospital, as well as the flight pattern of the incoming munition.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Tuesday’s hospital explosion killed 471 people. US intelligence estimated the death toll to be between 100 and 300. Gaza’s health ministry blamed Israel for the airstrike, while Israel said the explosion was caused by a failed missile launch by militants.

The Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, a stronghold of Palestinian militants, was the focus of a major Israeli military operation earlier this year.

Footage on social media that appears to show the scene of Sunday’s airstrike shows a gaping hole in one of the mosque’s outer walls, surrounded by rubble. Several dozen Palestinians can be seen assessing the damage as ambulance sirens blare in the background.

Residents of the camp said they had received warnings from the Israeli military to stay away from the militants because of the impending invasion of the camp. They said the military did not specify the date.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that led to two weeks of deadly Israeli bombing of Gaza, at least 84 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say.

On Thursday, the Israeli military said it had carried out a raid and airstrike on a refugee camp near the West Bank town of Tulkarm. The military said the raid was partly aimed at apprehending suspects and confiscating weapons. The Palestinians said at least 12 people were killed.

The US said it would send more air defense systems to the Middle East, including the Thaad system and additional battalions of Patriot surface-to-air missiles, and train more troops.

Drones and missiles struck two military bases housing US troops in Iraq last week, the latest in a series of attacks after Iraqi militants warned Washington against intervening in support of Israel in the fight against Hamas in Gaza, The Guardian recalls. .

“Following detailed discussions with President Biden about the recent escalation by Iran and its proxies in the Middle East region, I today directed a number of additional steps to further strengthen the Department of Defense’s position in the region,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said late Saturday.

Washington has already sent a significant number of naval forces to the Middle East in recent weeks, including two aircraft carriers, their support ships and about 2,000 marines.