Israel has pummeled Gaza with relentless bombardments and further expanded a massive mobilization of 360,000 reservists as approximately 200,000 Palestinians have been displaced.
“Israel intensified on Tuesday its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and bolstered its forces along the border, the fourth day of one of the most intense clashes between Israel and Hamas militants in decades.
In retaliation, Hamas has launched barrages of rockets targeting central Israel, including Tel Aviv. Many recreational sites and shops in Tel Aviv have remained closed since the conflict began. As night fell, rockets were fired at Ashkelon, prompting residents to seek shelter.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, reported that the IDF has regained control over most of the southern region that was infiltrated by Hamas militants on Saturday during a surprise attack.
However, clashes are still ongoing. Armed Palestinian militants continue infiltrating Israel. The IDF confirmed that two Palestinian militants, who apparently crossed into Israel during Saturday's attack and were in hiding, were killed in a firefight. Four armed militants also infiltrated Israel's southern shore at Zikim and were killed in an exchange of fire.
Israel's Education Ministry has announced that schools across the country, which have been shut down since the beginning of the conflict, will remain closed on Wednesday.
The conflict has taken a heavy toll on both sides. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Tuesday that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 900, with 4,500 injuries. Meanwhile, at least 1,008 individuals have been killed in Israel since Saturday, as reported by Israel's state-owned Kan TV news.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has vowed to exact ‘mighty revenge’ and approved a call-up of an additional 60,000 reservists, bringing the total number mobilized to a record 360,000, setting the stage for a possible ground offensive.
Israel's military also targeted Hamas officials, killing Hamas' Economy Minister Jawad Abu Shamala, and another senior official, Zakaria Abu Muammar.
In Gaza, Israel continues its massive airstrikes and has halted the supply of water, electricity, and food.
The Israel-Lebanon border has also seen an escalation, with the Israeli military responding to rocket barrages from Lebanon with retaliatory artillery fire.
Earlier in the day, Israeli airstrikes hit the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid. Negotiations between the United Nations and Egyptian officials are ongoing to ensure aid can flow through the crossing, with Egypt seeking assurances from Israel and the United States.
As a crucial negotiator between Israel and Palestine, Egypt has been ramping up efforts to de-escalate the conflict.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi warned Tuesday that the ongoing military escalation is ‘very dangerous’ and could have repercussions for regional security and stability.
He emphasized Egypt's commitment to a two-state solution and urged negotiations for a just peace and an independent Palestinian state”. -Xinhua
The Egyptian government also purportedly warned the Israelis of Hamas’ pending major offensive ten days prior to the attacks taking place.
“Was Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned by Egypt a few days before the Hamas attack? ‘We warned them that the situation was going to explode, and that very soon it was going to be something big. But they underestimated those warnings’, an Egyptian intelligence officer told the Associated Press.
He claimed that the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had been repeatedly warned by Egypt that the Palestinians were planning ‘something big’. Yet Israeli officials downplayed the threat from Gaza and instead focused on the occupied West Bank. Jerusalem, however, denied this information.
General Abbas Kamel, Egypt’s intelligence minister, is said to have personally conveyed one of these warnings to Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the Ynet news site, which was cited by The Times of Israel, the former told the president of the Israeli government ten days before the Hamas attack that Palestinians in Gaza were about to do ‘something unusual, a terrible operation’. According to the source, Netanyahu dismissed the warning, claiming that the Israeli army was already ‘overwhelmed’ by the disturbance in the West Bank.
The vast majority of supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the West Bank are Jewish settlers. For the past 18 months, they have urged the government to address escalating tensions in the region.
Egypt, on the other hand, has historically served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Israel has refuted all reports that claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message in advance from Egypt regarding the Hamas attack. The Israel PM Office stated on X (formerly Twitter), ‘The report to the effect that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message in advance from Egypt is absolutely false’.
It added, ‘No message in advance has arrived from Egypt and the Prime Minister has neither spoken, nor met, with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the formation of the government, neither directly nor indirectly. This is totally fake news’.
Earlier in the day, in a strongly worded statement, Netanyahu affirmed that the Israeli retaliation has just begun, and Hamas will go through much ‘tough and terrible’ things, The Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu also told local politicians from southern Israel that Israel will transform the region as it retaliates for a devastating Hamas attack and works to restore and support traumatized communities.
In a major escalation on October 7th, Hamas launched a ‘surprise attack’ on Israel, firing a barrage of rockets into the southern and central parts of the country.
According to Israeli local media cited by The Times of Israel, the death count in Israel has jumped to 800 Israelis since Saturday’s attack. According to Israeli government, over 2,400 people have been injured as well.
‘I know you’ve been through tough, terrible things. What Hamas will go through will be tough and terrible — we’re already in the midst of the battle and we’ve only just begun’, Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying citing the PM Office.
He further praised the soldiers for their steadfastness and says the coming fight would take time.
‘The nation will turn over every stone to help you all. I ask that you stand strong because we are going to change the Middle East’, he said.
Earlier in the day, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said he has ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip. He made the statement after an assessment at the IDF Southern Command in Beersheba.
‘I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed’, Gallant said.
‘We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly’, he added.
The IDF said that it is carrying out a fresh wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The IDF said it is hitting targets that belong to Hamas terror group. According to the military, further details will be provided soon, according to The Times of Israel report”. -Firstpost
It’s becoming increasingly likely, as more and more reports start to surface, that the Israeli intelligence and defense forces not only had foreknowledge of when the Hamas incursion was to occur but permitted it to happen as a pretense to bombard Gaza to try to provoke the involvement of Hezbollah and possibly initiate war against Iran.