Israel ‘to increase’ Gaza airstrikes – DW – 10/22/2023

Israeli aircraft struck the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, killing two Palestinians and wounding several others, Palestinian medics said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said the strike hit an area near al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin refugee camp, a Palestinian militant stronghold in the territory. Jenin was the focus of major Israeli military operations earlier this year.

According to Israel, “terror operatives” from Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were planning attacks were killed in an air strike.

The Israeli military said al-Ansar mosque “was used by the terrorists as a command center to plan the attacks and as a base for their execution.”

Violence in the West Bank has flared since Hamas gunmen carried out terror attacks on Israel on October 7. Israel has since then carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Hamas in Gaza.

As aid trucks enter Gaza and Israeli airstrikes on the enclave intensify ahead of a seemingly imminent ground offensive, DW spoke by phone with Gaza-based journalist Hazem Balousha about the situation on the ground.

According to Balousha, the aid that arrived in Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah crossing is not enough to help.

“Gaza needs more fuel, needs electricity. The fuel is needed for the hospitals according to the officials, and for water wells, and to pump the water to the houses in Gaza Strip,” he said.

The journalist also mentioned that people need drinking water which is “very limited” and “hard to get.”

Balousha added that another problem in Gaza is the lack of shelters where people can hide from the airstrikes. The people “stay in their cars or literally in the streets,” he said.

But what people in Gaza need most is a cease-fire, the journalist said. “Whenever I talk to people, they ask me when it’s going to be over. Or is there a talk about a cease-fire, or a truce, or talks, or pressure or anything that will put an end to all of this,” Balousha said.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has made a trip to Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, her office said.

The meeting Saturday came after Meloni participated in a summit in Cairo focused on ways to de-escalate the raging Israel-Hamas war.

Meloni’s office said that during the meeting she reiterated “the right of Israel to defend itself under international law and to live in peace” while also underlining “the importance of guaranteeing humanitarian access to Gaza and a prospect of peace for the region.”

Her office said she brought “a message of solidarity and Italy’s closeness” following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on October 7

Meanwhile, Netanyahu told Meloni that Israel has to defeat “the barbarism” of Hamas.

“And we expect all the countries that lined up to fight ISIS, to line up and fight Hamas, because Hamas is the new ISIS,” he said, referring to the so-called “Islamic State” (IS).

 

The spokesman for Israel’s military said the country planned to step up its air attacks as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas.

Asked about a possible ground invasion, IDF Spokesperson’s Head Daniel Hagari told reporters the military was trying to create optimal conditions before launching one.

“We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today,” Hagari said.

Israel has ordered residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south to avoid being caught up in the conflict with the Islamist military group that launched an attack on Israel on October 7.

On Saturday, Israel’s military said some 700,000 people had moved to southern areas of the territory.

jsi, dh/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)