Israel is still hitting Gaza hard in an attempt to drive out Hamas militants in preparation for a potential ground invasion of the Palestinian coastal strip.
Ahead of a potential ground invasion on Gaza, airlines and governments are frantically trying to get thousands of visitors out of Israel.
As former defence minister Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created an emergency unity cabinet, Israel said that it is carrying out a “large-scale strike” on Hamas targets in Gaza.
The Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) foreign spokesperson, Lt Col Richard Hecht, stated that no decision has been taken about a ground operation yet, even though the nation is “preparing for the next stages of war”.
He declared, “Anyone who will come near the fence will be shot – anyone,” and mentioned that Hamas was still attempting to cross into Israel by boat. “No one’s coming in, no one’s coming out.”
According to Hamas media, three airstrikes on residential buildings in as many hours resulted in the deaths of fifteen Palestinians in an unannounced round of strikes on Thursday.
In the meantime, Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, informed reporters that the torture marks on the bodies of people murdered by Hamas terrorists were “unlike anything they’d ever seen”.
Israel is prepared for a two-front war; get real-time conflict information here.
Israeli flag airline El Al announced that it would add 12 extra flights to and from Athens, Rome, Madrid, Bucharest, New York, Paris, Larnaca, and Istanbul on Wednesday and Thursday as threats intensify.
Six flights to and from Larnaca as well as an additional trip from New York have already been announced by El Al, and its low-cost subsidiary Sun Dor also has flights scheduled from Istanbul.
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The majority of international airlines have halted or reduced operations, leaving travellers unsure of how to get into or out of the nation. Consular services are also finding it difficult to meet the demand for assistance, with individuals who have lost family members receiving precedence.
While Norwegian Air postponed an evacuation flight from Tel Aviv owing to insufficient insurance coverage and Dutch carrier KLM backed out due to safety concerns, Air France and Lufthansa are proceeding with their flights on Thursday.
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The 87-year-old Abbas, sometimes referred to as Abu Mazen, has led the Palestinian Authority—which oversees parts of the West Bank but is in fierce political competition with Hamas, which rules Gaza—for the past 18 years.
The Israeli Knesset finance committee announced that it will discuss approving government guarantees for Israeli airlines’ war risk insurance.
The panel stated that insurance providers had stated they had the right to revoke coverage with a seven-day warning period. CEOs of airlines claimed that some coverage was still available.
Although Israel is not typically included in lists of high-risk aviation destinations, a senior official at the insurance industry trade group Lloyd’s Market Association stated that insurers should aim to limit their exposure given the rising levels of violence.
Shortly before it was scheduled to arrive in Israel, British Airways announced that it would be suspending its flights to Tel Aviv owing to security concerns. The flight had been diverted from London back to Britain.
Additionally, the families of the UK government’s ambassadors in Israel have been told to leave.
How should I proceed?
Following bombings over the weekend by a militant branch of the Palestinian political organisation Hamas and subsequent strikes by Israeli troops, evacuation attempts are underway as the total death toll reported by both sides approaches more than 2,000.
The UN estimates that 340,000 Palestinians have also been displaced as a result of it. One woman in Gaza, who sought safety at her daughter’s home during an Israeli raid, broke down in tears upon returning home to discover it had been “bombed entirely.”
“There’s nothing left,” she said in Gaza to a Sky News crew.
“The house appears to be empty. It’s completely bombed. Where should I go?”
As the bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas control, continues, there are calls for the establishment of a humanitarian passage out of Gaza.
Currently stationed in Cairo, the UN Middle East envoy is collaborating with the Egyptian government, other significant regional and global partners, and other parties to put an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict, stop its spread, and establish a humanitarian corridor that will allow supplies of food, fuel, and water to reach Gaza.
Earlier this week, Israel cut off Gaza’s water and electricity supplies. On Thursday, it declared that it would not lift the whole blockade until all captives taken by Hamas during its weekend raid are released.
The Red Cross fears that supplies could run out in a matter of hours and has begged for gasoline to be permitted in order to stop overburdened hospitals from “turning into mortuaries”.
According to a UN official, Egypt has offered to make the El Arish airport accessible for vital aid and to ease humanitarian access through the Rafah crossing. These actions are being monitored by Tor Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
The UN reported that in the last 24 hours, over 1,000 dwelling units in Gaza were demolished, and over 560 more were badly damaged or rendered uninhabitable.
According to John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security, the US is also actively negotiating the safe evacuation of civilians from Gaza on Wednesday.
Mr. Kirby pointed out that the two main participants in the endeavour are Egypt and Israel.
“We are having active conversations about trying to allow for that safe passage,” he stated. “It’s the civilians who did nothing wrong so we want to make sure they have a way out.”
