Israel has continued with its ground offensive in Gaza for the third day. The Israeli air force also bombed around 600 targets inside the besieged Palestinian territory on Sunday and into the early morning of Monday, October 30.
According to ground reports, Palestinian resistance has engaged the Israeli ground forces which are heavily armed and backed by a large number of war tanks, at several locations inside northern Gaza approaching the Gaza city.
The Israeli tanks were reported firing at civilian vehicles moving at some locations inside the Gaza strip, Al-Jazeera reported.
The Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on Saturday under an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign and a complete blackout of the territory with no power, nor phone and internet connectivity for hours.
The blackout hampered all kinds of rescue and relief missions in Gaza. According to different sources, more than 1,000 more Palestinians have been killed since Saturday in the Israeli bombings.
According to local reports, the phone and internet connectivity was restored in most areas across the Palestinian territory on Sunday.
Israel has threatened to strike the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza and asked its thousands of occupants to evacuate it immediately. The Israeli air force bombed the residential buildings around the hospital on Sunday night again.
There are over 14,000 Palestinians who are taking shelter in the hospital or are getting treatment.
Amidst Al-Quds Hospital in #Gaza displaced families seek refuge, bedding down on the ground and in corridors, where the relentless echoes of Israeli airstrikes and bombings almost never fade.#Gazabombing #GazaHospital #AlQudsHospital pic.twitter.com/O7fOjS5GHW
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 29, 2023
Israeli forces also continued to raid different parts of the occupied West Bank. In a raid on the Jenin refugee camp on Monday, Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians and injured another five. Two more Palestinians were killed in Israeli shootings in other parts of the occupied West Bank on Sunday.
More than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 20,000 injured in the Israeli war in Gaza since October 7. According to Palestinian sources, over 1,800 Palestinians have been reported missing since the Israeli bombings began on October 7. Most of those missing are feared to be buried under the debris of the residential buildings bombed by Israel.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 70% of Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombings were children or women.
The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli occupation raids in the West Bank since October 7 has crossed 112.
According to Save the Children, more children have been killed in the Israeli war in Gaza since October 7 than the total number of children killed in conflicts around the world since 2019.
Israel continues to defy international calls for ceasefire
The International Criminal Court said on Monday that impeding relief to Gaza may constitute a crime under international law. After returning from the besieged territory, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan claimed that what is happening in Gaza is like reliving the horrors in past conflicts.
Israel has defied repeated calls given by dozens of countries, the UN, and other aid agencies to lift its blockade on humanitarian supplies for the densely populated Gaza strip and allow free flow of aid and relief material. The lack of food, medical supplies, and fuel is endangering more innocent lives in Gaza, claimed the World Health Organization (WHO).
Heavy bombardment continues in Gaza.
Many health facilities have been damaged since 7 October, including several in the last two days. Hospitals are overflowing with severely injured patients with no end in sight to the influx of casualties.
Medical supplies are dangerously… pic.twitter.com/3Z7H0j8UsT
— WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) October 29, 2023
The UN Security Council is expected to meet on Monday, October 30, to discuss the situation in Gaza. The emergency meeting was called on the request of the UAE, one of the 10 elected members of the highest decision making body of the UN.
The permanent members of the UN Security Council have failed to take a united stand on the Israeli war in Gaza, with the US and its European allies (the UK and France) supporting Israeli bombing of innocent Palestinian civilians, while Russia and China are trying to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Israel has already refused to follow the resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire adopted on Friday by the UN General Assembly with an overwhelming majority. The General Assembly resolution was supported by 120 countries, while 45 countries abstained and only 14 voted against it.
Israel had called the resolution “despicable” and questioned the legitimacy of the UN.
While the UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they have political weight and reflect the world opinion on the matter.
