According to the Israeli army, the aim of this intensification of strikes is to “reduce the risks for [leurs] forces in the next stages” of the conflict.
The Israeli army is preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. “From today, we will increase strikes” on the Gaza Strip, warned General Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli army, on Saturday October 21. According to him, the aim of this intensification of strikes is to “reduce risks to our forces in the next steps” of the conflict.
“We are going to enter Gaza, we are going to do it for an operational purpose, destroy Hamas infrastructure and terrorists, and we are going to do it professionally”he continued, during a review of the troops, the Israeli chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi. “Gaza is complex, Gaza is densely populated, the enemy is preparing a lot of things there, but we are also preparing for him”warned the latter, adding “[garder] in mind the photographs and images, as well as the deaths of two weeks ago.
Since the Hamas attack on its territory on October 7, Israel has vowed to annihilate the Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip.
A “catastrophic” humanitarian situation
Subject to an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since Hamas took power there in 2007, the Gaza Strip, which has 2.4 million inhabitants, has been placed in a state of emergency since October 9. “complete seat” by Israel: water, electricity and food supplies were notably cut off. According to the UN, at least 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced since the start of the conflict due to bombing, and the humanitarian situation in the enclave is “catastrophic”.
“Time is running out before mortality rates skyrocket due to the outbreak of disease and lack of health care capacity”five UN agencies warned in a joint statement on Saturday.
That same day, a convoy of twenty trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the enclave from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, the only exit from the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel, which was subsequently closed again.
However, according to the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), these twenty trucks are equivalent to only 4% of Gaza’s daily imports before the start of hostilities, and at least 100 trucks per day are necessary to improve the situation. At least 42% of housing in the Gaza Strip has been destroyed or damaged since the start of the conflict, according to OCHA.