Israel army battles Hamas in tunnels as WHO warns of health catastrophe

Sandeep Dikshit

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New Delhi, October 31

Israel said its forces attacked Hamas gunmen inside the tunnel network in Gaza, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was the “third phase” of the operation, even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that a “public health catastrophe” was imminent after water supply from Israel was cut off on Monday and another pipeline remained out of commission.

No to ceasefire

Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to terror, to barbarism. That will not happen. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli PM

“At the time of writing, no water is provided to Gaza from Israel,” as per the UN. But Netanyahu dismissed calls for a halt to fighting to ease a worsening humanitarian crisis. “Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen,” he said in a TV appearance.

The tunnels in Gaza have for years thwarted the Israeli military, which has made their destruction the prime aim as it seeks to dismantle the Hamas network. In the last 24 hours, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed to have struck about 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts and military areas inside underground tunnels. Hamas and Islamic Jihad responded with anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire. Hamas said it targeted four vehicles with locally made rockets and claimed to have ambushed and “liquidated” an Israeli unit. The IDF has not given any casualty figures of the soldiers killed in combat so far.

Over 300 Israeli soldiers were among the 1,400 killed in the first flush of Hamas attacks on October 7. The IDF also said for the first time it hit a major weapons dump of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The IDF’s bombing of Gaza along with sea and ground attacks have imperilled the functioning of two hospitals even as Gazans lugged bodies in donkey carts. Meanwhile, demonstrations continued worldwide in support of the Palestinians.