People conduct rescue work among residential buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Nov. 7, 2023. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)
GAZA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Israel-Hamas violent conflict in the Gaza Strip entered its second consecutive month on Tuesday, leading to heavy losses among the locals in the Palestinian coastal enclave.
"We have been witnessing a catastrophic situation as an unprecedented high number of casualties was recorded, with which we can barely deal amid the lack of medical equipment, staff, and medicine," Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman of the Hamas-run Health Ministry, told Xinhua.
Over the last 24 hours, the Israeli air forces targeted different areas in Gaza, destroying dozens of residential houses.
"At least 250 targets were attacked by the Israeli army, leaving dozens of civilian people killed, which violated all human rights and international laws," Salama Maarouf, the head of the government media office in Gaza, said.
The total number of Palestinian deaths due to Israeli attacks since Oct. 7 has risen to 10,328, including 4,237 children, 2,719 women, and 631 elderly people. Additionally, more than 25,000 others were injured with various degrees of severity, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry on Tuesday.
People mourn for victims killed in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Nov. 5, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
On the same day, the government media office announced that Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip with over 30,000 tons of explosives since the outbreak of the deadly conflict on Oct. 7.
Meanwhile, the ground battles continue between Hamas and other resistance factions against the Israeli military, which has announced its intention to target underground tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip and advance towards the heart of Gaza City after isolating the area with troops and tanks.
The Israeli army previously said it had encircled Gaza City, isolating it from the central and southern regions of the strip, and its forces had taken control of a site affiliated with Hamas on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Avichai Adraee, an Israeli army spokesman, said the Israeli forces found facilities used by Hamas to launch rockets, including one inside a mosque, and discovered more than 50 rockets.
He added that the Israeli Air Force has targeted approximately 450 Hamas-related targets in the past 24 hours, including military compounds and anti-tank missile launch pads, among others.
Observers said the Israeli ground forces are employing a slow-advance tactic towards Gaza City, maneuvering between incursions and withdrawals, aiming to draw out Hamas fighters, uncover their sites, and then comb these locations with air raids.
This photo released by Israel Defense Forces on Nov. 7, 2023 shows Israeli troops continuing ground operations in Gaza Strip. (Xinhua)
The Israeli army announced Monday that 35 of its soldiers had been killed since the start of ground operations.
Meanwhile, with international diplomatic efforts led by Egypt and other parties, the Rafah crossing was intermittently opened to evacuate foreign nationals and transport the wounded from Gaza to Egypt for medical treatment.
The Rafah crossing was expected to remain open on Tuesday after it resumed operation yesterday following a three-day suspension due to disputes regarding the safe evacuation of patients from Gaza City and its northern areas, as well as the evacuation of foreigners and dual citizens.
People unload humanitarian aid from a truck at the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 2, 2023. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)
Ambulances transported approximately 30 injured individuals to the Rafah crossing, accompanied by teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, as part of new agreements facilitated by Egypt and the United Nations.
On the other hand, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced Monday that its teams received 25 trucks of humanitarian aid from the Egyptian side through the Rafah crossing, bringing the total number of trucks received since Oct. 21 to 476, excluding any quantities of fuel.
The World Food Programme on Monday issued an urgent appeal to expand the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as the humanitarian needs have significantly increased, and essential food supplies have reached critically low levels in the besieged enclave. ■
