Fourth day into the Israel-Hamas war, and the death count already soars pass 3,000. War intensifies amid rockets being fired from Lebanon in the north as well. Israel says areas near Gaza border have been recaptured from the clutches of Hamas militants. Israel claims to have found dead bodies of at least 1500 militants in southern towns near the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli warplanes continued to hammer Gaza strip targeting militants. An Israeli military official confirmed that the death toll from Hamas’ surprise attack over the weekend has now risen above 1,000. Brig Gen Dan Goldfus announced during a briefing on Tuesday, October 10 that the death toll in Israel alone has passed 1,000 while Israeli retaliatory offensive has claimed 830 lives on the other side and caused widespread destruction in Gaza.
On October 7, Saturday in the early morning hours militants infiltrated southern Israel using paragliders. They indiscriminately targeted the Israeli civilians and military alike. Several including men, women and children were taken hostages. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s military campaign following Saturday’s onslaught was only the start of a sustained war to obliterate Hamas and “change the Middle East”. Rockets were fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon after Hamas’s armed wing warned residents to leave the city. Meanwhile, an Israeli army chief said that babies were among those killed in a “massacre” at a kibbutz.
The UN said that nearly 2,00,000 people or almost tenth of the population in Gaza have fled their homes since the broke. Due to the blockade, the civilians in Gaza will face shortages of water and electricity.
Additionally an Israeli minister Nir Barkat told an international news outlet that Israel will “wipe out” Hamas after children were burnt alive, beheaded and shot in the head. He further said that the Israeli offensive will continue until there was a “clear white flag” and there was a “more moderate” replacement for Hamas to govenr the Gaza strip. “Just now, we have heard of 40 young boys, some of them were burnt alive, some were beheaded, some were shot in the head,” the minister said.
“The whole country is united to take Hamas out of this world, to take them out. All the militants, all the infrastructure, the people supporting Hamas. We will wipe them out. We’re coming in to kill the militants, and any civilians [should] move aside. If you do not move aside and you’re giving cover to the Hamas militants, you’re risking your life. We do not want to hurt innocent people,” Nir Barkat said.
