Israel-Hamas war LIVE updates: Follow the latest updates on the Middle-East conflict. Israel-Hamas war LIVE updates: Israel’s ambitious goal to defeat Hamas has reached a new level after its military launched a barrage of airstrikes at a refugee camp near Gaza City levelling several apartment buildings in the area. Israel said a ringleader of the October 7 attack by the Gazan Islamist group has been killed in the strike as well as destroyed a Hamas command centre set up in civilian houses and a network of tunnels underneath the location. In its first-ever reported fatality since the Israeli military began its ground incursion into the besieged Palestinian enclave on Friday, two IDF soldiers were killed on Tuesday during combat in northern Gaza.
Palestinians inspect the damage of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City
Palestinians inspect the damage of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City(AP)
Israel’s military offensive has also raised concerns over the looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza as volleys of airstrikes pummeled the coastal enclave claiming oveer 8,500 lives, according to the Hamas-led health authority. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed again on Tuesday for the protection of civilians caught in the conflict, stressing the need for proportional behaviour and precautions by all parties.
A public health catastrophe ensued in the Gaza Strip, with hospitals struggling to treat casualties as electricity supplies petered out.
Meanwhile, the White House said the United States along with other countries are looking at ‘a variety of possible permutations’ for the future of the Gaza Strip if Hamas militants are removed from control, indicating how nations are foreseeing Israel’s triumph on the battlefield.
Here’s what happened so far in the conflict:
Several Middle-Eastern countries including UAE, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have condemned the Israeli attack at the refugee camp saying it will ‘result in irreparable ramifications in the region’.
UN and other aid officials said civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave were engulfed by a public health catastrophe, with hospitals struggling to treat casualties as electricity supplies petered out. Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza said power generators in al Shifa Medical complex and the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza will stop in hours.
Israeli families of victims of the October 7 attack appealed to the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to order an investigation into the killings and abductions. Israel is not a member of the Hague-based court and refuses to recognise its jurisdiction.
The United States has made “real progress” in the last few hours in negotiations to secure a safe passage for Americans and other foreign nationals who wish to leave Gaza, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Temporary oversight to Gaza to countries from the region, backed by troops from the US, UK, Germany and France; a peacekeeping force modeled on the Multinational Force and Observers group that operates on and around the Sinai peninsula; and a temporary governance of the strip under a United Nations umbrella are the three-pronged solutions the US is mulling to bring in place, according to Bloomberg report.
South American nations have reacted to the intensifying humanitarian crisis amid the war and called for an immediate halt to the military action. Bolivia has decided to sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whereas, its neighbours Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to the Middle Eastern country for consultations.
After reports of partial reinstatement of the internet and communications services, the Palestinian telecom company Paltel said on Wednesday in a post on messaging platform X that communications and internet services have been completely cut off in the Gaza Strip due to disconnected international access.