Political and emotional upheaval caused by the capture of over 240 hostages
Photos and videos of burnt and mutilated bodies clearly show the horror of the attack. The kidnapping of more than 240 Israelis by Hamas gunmen continues the political and emotional upheaval. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on earth with 2.4 million people. Gaza City has turned into a deadly battleground due to Israeli air and ground attacks on Hamas.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the Israeli offensive has killed nearly 9,500 people, two-thirds of them women and children, and most of them civilians.
“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of innocent people”
“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of innocent people,” said Al Quds, the most widely read Palestinian daily. “It seems that we have to make sure that the current situation is the new reality,” the left-wing Israeli daily Haaretz wrote this week. This war has completely changed people’s lives, losses, concerns, country’s agenda and completely overturned the old political traditions in every possible aspect.
Israel’s army is also on alert along its northern border with Lebanon
Fears of a potential regional conflict have grown amid the Israel-Hamas war. Iran, an ally of both Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, has warned that the situation in the Middle East will turn “out of control” into a “powder keg”. A Pentagon spokesman said the US “Concerned about all elements of Iran’s threat network escalating their attacks in a way that miscalculates or risks plunging the region into war.”
US military advisers are in Israel and two US carrier groups have been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean. Israel’s army is also on alert along its northern border with Lebanon due to rising tensions.
Hezbollah blames the US for the war on the Lebanese border
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah broke his month-long silence on Friday, saying “all options” were open to escalating the conflict on the Lebanese border with Israel. With this he held America responsible for the war.
Hezbollah can do serious damage to Israel
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said he did not think Hezbollah would escalate the fighting, telling the BBC that “a broader regional conflict has been averted.” However, Avi Melamed, an Israeli expert on Middle East relations, warned. “Hezbollah can fire at this area,” he said. They have ten times better military capabilities than Hamas cells,” he told AFP. “They can do serious damage to Israel.”
The Israeli army says it is ready to face any conflict in the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967 and violence has intensified since the start of the Gaza war.
Benjamin Netanyahu rejects ceasefire
Let us tell you that Israel’s military and intelligence capabilities were once admired, but the October 7 attack took a heavy toll on it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire this week, saying, “A call for a ceasefire is a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas.” At the same time, Hamas spokesman Abu Obaidah has vowed that “Gaza will become a graveyard and a swamp for the enemy.”