The Israeli army carried out a first ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating day by day.
No de-escalation in sight in the Middle East. The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its twentieth day on Thursday October 26, continues, with a first land incursion by the Israeli army into the Gaza Strip. In this territory, the humanitarian situation is increasingly dramatic. Here’s what to remember from the day.
A first land incursion into Gaza
Before dawn on Thursday October 26, the Israeli army “carried out a targeted raid with tanks in the northern Gaza Strip, as part of its preparations for the next stages of the fight”, according to a military press release. The soldiers have “hit many terrorists, their infrastructure and anti-tank rocket launch positions”before leaving the area, according to the army.
War between Hamas and Israel: an incursion before the IDF ground offensive in Gaza?
War between Hamas and Israel: an incursion before the IDF ground offensive in Gaza? – (FRANCE 2)
A human toll still on the rise
The Hamas Ministry of Health has published a list of names of some 7,000 Palestinians killed according to it in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since October 7, most of them civilians killed by Hamas commandos on the day of the attack.
According to Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, 13 people were killed by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip or Lebanon after October 7. According to Israeli authorities, 224 hostages were taken by Hamas to Gaza on October 7. Four women have been released to date.
Hospitals out of service in Gaza
Since October 21, only a few dozen humanitarian aid trucks have arrived via Egypt in the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel. At least 100 trucks per day are needed according to the UN, which urgently calls for the delivery of fuel to run generators in hospitals, pump and purify water.
According to Mohammed Abou Selmeya, director of al-Chifa hospital in Gaza, the largest in the territory, “ten hospitals are already out of service” And “more than 90% of medicines and products are exhausted”.