Israel widens assault; near complete blackout in Gaza

Sandeep Dikshit

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New Delhi, October 28

Israel’s military widened its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which went under a near complete blackout, while rebuffing worldwide appeals to pause the assault on humanitarian grounds. It, however, allowed the entry of some trucks to carry food, water and medicines.

Egypt: Gaza aid being hampered

Egypt said major logistical problems imposed by the Israeli side were impeding the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip

Amid widespread Internet outages in Gaza, there were suggestions that the ground offensive may be underway. Israel said troops sent in on Friday night were still in the field. Earlier, they had made brief thrusts into Gaza and had returned.

Situation must be reversed

I was encouraged by a growing consensus for need of humanitarian pause. Regrettably, I was surprised by escalation of bombardments. This must be reversed. — Antonio Guterres, UN Secy-Gen

Israel claimed it had killed Hamas’ naval and air force commanders and destroyed 150 underground targets in the overnight raids and bombings but there was no clue of the hostages whose relatives met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking stepped up efforts to secure their release.

Israeli fighter jets also hit the Hezbollah infrastructure in response to rockets launched from Lebanon towards Israel which fell in Syrian territory.

The situation was turning so dire in Gaza that Israel said it could not ensure the safety of journalists while the head of the UN agency dedicated to Palestinians wrote an open message to his staff in Gaza, who have lost contact with the outside world.

“I am constantly hoping that this hell on earth will soon come to an end and that you and your families are safe. We have already lost 53 colleagues, and many of you have lost relatives and loved ones. May they all rest in peace,” wrote UNRWA Commissioner Gen Phillipe Lazzarini.

Israel claimed that Hamas was using the biggest hospital in Gaza, Shifa, for terror activities. Israel is already being accused of a missile strike on another hospital that killed 300. During the interrogation of two Hamas men arrested after the October 7 massacre, Israeli intelligence said it received information that the hospital was used for terror purposes. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 29 journalists had died covering the Israel-Hamas war, making it the deadliest conflict for the media with most of them perishing in the continuous Israeli bombing. Saudi Arabia reacted to the Israeli assault by warning of the danger of continuing to carry out “these blatant and unjustified violations of international law against our brotherly Palestinians.”