Israel pounds over 500 targets in Gaza overnight, total death toll crosses 1,000

 

Palestinians inspect the damages after Israeli strikes at Beach refugee camp, in Gaza City on October 9, 2023.  Reuters

 

Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling struck more than 500 targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Israeli military said Monday as the Israeli military fought to regain control of the desert areas around Gaza. 

The death toll from the war with Hamas surged above 1,000 by Monday, the third day of clashes.

Battle with Hamas gunmen taking 'more time' than expected, says IDF

Israeli forces are fighting Hamas gunmen at seven to eight points outside Gaza, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Monday, 48 hours after the biggest attack on the country in decades.

"It's taking more time than we expected to get things back into a defensive, security posture," Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told a briefing with journalists.

 

Dozen Thai nationals killed in conflict, says Thai foreign ministry

Twelve Thais have been killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, the kingdom's government said Monday as it prepared a plan to evacuate its citizens.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke said the Thai embassy in Israel learned of the deaths from the victims' employers.

She said a further eight Thais had been wounded and 11 taken captive since the war erupted when Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Saturday.

There are around 30,000 Thai workers in Israel, according to Bangkok's labour ministry, many of them working in agriculture.

Thai air force planes were on standby to fly citizens home, though the date and other details of any evacuation were still being worked on, said Kanchana.

Israel strikes more than 500 targets' overnight in Gaza, says IDF

Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling struck more than 500 targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Israeli military said Monday.

"Overnight IDF (Israeli army) fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery struck over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

The Israeli strikes hit numerous multi-storey buildings, including the home of Rawhi Mushtaha, a member of the Hamas political bureau, the army said.

The residence contained a "Hamas terror command centre from which he helped to direct the infiltration into Israel", it said.

Two Hamas "operational assets" were also struck, including one located in a mosque, the army said, adding a target belonging to Islamic Jihad was also hit. 

Iran's UN mission says Tehran not involved in Hamas attacks

Iran's mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that Tehran was not involved in one of the bloodiest attacks in Israel's history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more.

"The resolute measures taken by Palestine constitute a wholly legitimate defense against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime," Iran's UN mission said in statement.

Iran has made no secret of its backing for Hamas, funding and arming the group and another Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad.

US deploying ships closer to Israel

President Joe Biden ordered US ships and warplanes to move closer to Israel in a show of support.

The Pentagon said it was sending the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean, while boosting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.

US Central Command confirmed Sunday afternoon that ships and planes had begun moving to their new posts. 

'Several' US citizens have died following attacks in Israel 

Several US nationals have died since the start of Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, a National Security Council spokesman said Sunday, adding that US officials remained in touch with their Israeli counterparts.

Official word of Americans killed in the conflict came as Israel retaliated for the incursion, one of the bloodiest in it history, launching attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

 

Senior Hamas official says militant group is holding more than 100 people captive after assault on Israel

A senior Hamas official says the militant group is holding more than 100 people captive after its unprecedented assault on Israel.

Mousa Abu Marzouk made the remarks Sunday to the Arabic-lanmguage news outlet al-Ghad. The figure is in addition to more than 30 people said to be held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

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