After a whole night of heavy shelling and complete communication blackout, Israel demolishes hundreds of Gaza buildings

Shamsa Butt

savage Israeli attacks claim 7,703 Palestinian lives

savage Israeli attacks claim 7,703 Palestinian lives, and Erdogan of Turkey urges Israel to “put an end to this madness.”

Three weeks into a war sparked by the bloodiest attack in the country’s history, Israel’s army hammered Gaza brutally on Saturday after a night of intensive bombardment that, according to rescuers, damaged hundreds of buildings.

In the midst of the army’s stepped-up air and artillery raids, the relatives of Israeli captives held by Hamas requested an explanation from the government on their whereabouts. Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey asked Israel to “immediately stop” the attacks.

At least 7,703 people have died in the conflict between Israel and Hamas that broke out on October 7, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday.

Among the deceased are around 3,500 youngsters. Since Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the total number of war fatalities there is greatest.

After Hamas broke over the border on October 7, murdering 1,400 people and kidnapping about 230 more, Israeli sources said that Israel began its savage bombardment of Gaza.

The most recent Israeli raids coincided with combat operations and were among the most severe attacks of that kind since the start of the war.

In addition to their planned full-scale invasion, Israeli forces had staged small ground incursions on Wednesday and Thursday nights, amassing tens of thousands of troops near the Gaza border.

Spokesman for Gaza Civil Defense Mahmud Bassal stated, “Hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed and thousands of other homes were damaged.”

He told AFP that the heavy bombing has “changed the landscape” of northern Gaza.

Thousands of people demonstrate against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza in London

The “National March for Palestine” in London drew an estimated 100,000 participants, who were protesting Israel’s continuous bombing and siege of Gaza.

“Our common goal is to convey one message: we want the violence to stop. Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, stated in a post on X that “we’re calling for an immediate ceasefire and for necessary humanitarian supplies to be delivered safely to the people of Gaza.”

He declared that the bloodshed would not end “until you address the root cause,” which is Israel’s continuous military occupation of the nation.

After screaming “Free Palestine,” carrying placards, and waving Palestinian flags, the protesters marched through London and gathered outside Downing Street, the official residence and place of business of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

At a Jewish protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, hundreds of people are arrested by New York police

Police broke up a big demonstration by primarily Jewish New Yorkers who had taken over Grand Central station’s main hall in protest of Israel’s shelling of Gaza, according to organizers and police, and hundreds of individuals were arrested.

While protest organizers claimed over 300 individuals had been arrested, the New York Police Department said that at least 200 people had been taken into custody.

Long lines of youths wearing handcuffs and black hoodies with the words “Not In Our Name” and “Cease Fire Now” emblazoned in white were captured in photos from the site.

The Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City organized the enormous sit-in, claiming that hundreds of its supporters had turned out to protest and block the main concourse of the city’s major rail station.

In photos, demonstrators crammed the terminal, holding signs that said, “Palestinians should be free” and “Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.”

According to the organizers, this nonviolent sit-in was “the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen in 20 years.”

Shabbat candles were lit, and Rabbis read the kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the deceased, to usher in the celebration.

Operations intensify

On October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters killed numerous Israelis as they crossed the Israeli border in cars, by air, and by sea. Israel was unprepared for the unprecedented strike, which also revealed grave intelligence shortcomings.

According to Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari, “the army entered the Gaza Strip and extended its operations” using artillery and tanks on Saturday.

150 “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces, and additional underground infrastructure” were struck by Israeli fighter jets, according to the army.

Additionally, the military released pictures that it said showed its tanks and strikes inside the Gaza Strip.

Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, declared that it was “confronting an Israeli ground incursion” in east Bureij in the center of the Gaza Strip and Beit Hanoun in the northern section.

Why do they keep bombing us?

AFP journalists observed Israeli jets flying overhead on Saturday, and they heard continuous concussive booms emanating from Gaza, where several houses were in rubble.

Following a night of intense bombing, a dense cloud of smoke enveloped Gaza and the southern region of Israel.

“Many martyrs and survivors are under the rubble, and we are unable to reach them,” a civil defense official from Gaza stated.

In the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, Om Walid Basal, 50, claimed that Israel had damaged her apartment building while standing in a bombed-out street.

“Our home was this one. Only our kids and I resided here,” she remarked.

“They’re bombing us, but why? How come they are demolishing our houses?”

Blackout on communications

Following the army’s stepped-up strikes on Gaza, the relatives of Israeli captives held by Hamas sought on Saturday an immediate explanation from the government regarding their whereabouts.

The war cabinet allegedly neglected to inform relatives about whether the ground operation jeopardized the safety of the prisoners, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents about 229 persons who are thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas.

“The relatives are waiting for an explanation and are concerned about what happened to their loved ones. The group remarked, “Every minute seems like an eternity.”

The Israeli bombing raids since October 7 have resulted in “almost 50” hostage deaths, according to a report released by the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades on Thursday. The amount could not be immediately verified by AFP.

Hamas claimed that Israel had taken the action “to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land, and sea” and that all internet and communications had been cut off throughout Gaza.

Human Rights Watch cautioned that there was a chance that Gaza’s nearly complete telecom blackout may serve as cover for “mass atrocities”.

Ambulance services have been affected by the communications loss, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Furthermore emphasizing on X that “hospitals & humanitarian operations can’t continue without communications” is UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories Lynne Hastings.

“Stop this madness” Turkish President Erdogan tweeted on X, previously Twitter, on Saturday, following the UN General Assembly’s request for a “immediate humanitarian truce” in Gaza. “Israel must immediately stop this madness and end its attacks,” Erdogan added.

There were 45 abstentions, 14 votes against, and 120 votes in favor of the non-binding resolution on Friday.

Although Hamas applauded it, Israel and the US strongly condemned it for omitting to include Hamas; Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan referred to it as “infamy”.

According to the UN, Israel’s shelling has forced more than 1.4 million Palestinians from the packed area, while Gaza’s supplies of food, water, and electricity have been all but cut off.

Israel has stopped all fuel supplies, claiming that Hamas will use them to produce explosives and weapons.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning, saying, “The people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering unless there is a fundamental change.”

Not even crumbs, nothing more
According to UNRWA’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, Gazans are “not only dying from bombs and strikes, but many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege.”

After the first wave of help was permitted to enter last weekend, just 74 trucks had passed through. Prior to the conflict, the UN claims that 500 trucks on average entered Gaza every day.

“These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference,” Lazzarini stated.

UNRWA claimed it has had to “significantly reduce its operations” after 12 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals were forced to close due to the bombardments and fuel shortages.

The Israeli military charged Hamas with orchestrating strikes from Gazan hospitals, an accusation that Hamas refuted.

Since the October 7 attacks, there has also been a marked increase in violence in the occupied West Bank, with the UN reporting that over 100 Palestinians have died and close to 2,000 have been injured

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