While airstrikes continue, Israeli forces undertake a ground raid in Gaza during the night

Under continuous bombardment, the Israeli army launched a “targeted raid” on the Gaza Strip, supported by fighter jets and drones. The operation has resulted in over 7,000 Palestinian casualties, including at least 2,900 children.

An Israeli army statement on Friday stated, “During the last day, IDF ground forces, accompanied by IDF fighter jets and UAVs, conducted an additional targeted raid in the central Gaza Strip,” as the army got ready for a land invasion.

“The IDF identified and struck numerous terror targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites, military command, and control centers, as well as Hamas terrorists,” claimed the statement, adding that forces “exited the area at the end of the activity”.

The military published a black-and-white film following the attacks that showed a column of armored vehicles as a dense cloud of dust rose into the sky.

The previous evening, the army used tanks and infantry to carry out a similar ground operation in the northern region of Palestinian territory.

The most recent invasions occurred after Israel was once again said to be “preparing for a ground offensive” earlier this week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Al Jazeera was informed by Palestinian sources that Israeli soldiers conducted “a very limited incursion” into the al-Bureij refugee camp and the fringes of Beit Hanoon, which is located north of the Gaza Strip, during the course of the night.

Fearing that a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave could lead to a wider confrontation in the Middle East, Israel said that military operations into Gaza were preparing “the next stage of the operation”.

Names of deceased released by Palestinian ministry

Since October 7, Israeli air and artillery strikes in the restricted Gaza Strip have killed at least 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 children, according to a list of names made public by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

After Hamas launched an unexpected offensive that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis and the captivity of 224 others, Israel threatened to “annihilate” the Palestinian resistance group, and the bombing of Gaza continued nonstop for 21 days.

This is the deadliest Gaza has seen since Israel’s 2005 unilateral withdrawal from Palestinian territory.

Food, water, medication, and gasoline have been in short supply for Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants, and aid convoys that have been permitted entry into the slender stretch of Palestinian territory have only brought a small portion of what is required.

The question of whether to have humanitarian pauses or ceasefire agreements in the Hamas-run coastal enclave will be brought before the 193-member United Nations General Assembly on Friday in a draft resolution submitted by Arab states calling for a ceasefire, as the situation for Palestinian civilians becomes increasingly dire.

In the General Assembly, no nation has a veto, in contrast to the Security Council, where resolutions for Gaza funding were rejected this week. Resolutions have political weight but are not legally binding.

The Israeli bombing of Gaza was projected to have left over 613,000 Palestinians homeless; UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, was providing shelter to these individuals.

The phrase “Israeli bombardment kills captives”

A Hamas official named Abu Hamad was mentioned in the Russian publication Kommersant as advocating for a truce prior to the release of prisoners.

According to Hamas, Israel’s ongoing airstrikes in Gaza have killed about fifty of the hostages abducted during the surprise raid. This information was disclosed on Thursday.

The official added that before the prisoners are freed, Hamas needs time and a peaceful setting to find them.

Amidst efforts by regional mediator countries to negotiate a larger-scale release, Hamas released four prisoners during the past week.

Israel has referred to the Hamas delegation’s visit to Moscow as “deplorable” and demanded that Russia kick them out.

Russia maintains connections with all of the major actors in the Middle East, such as Hamas, Israel, Iran, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority. It has frequently declared that US diplomacy failed to resolve the current situation and has called for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas as well as the restart of negotiations to find a peaceful solution.

Poll: Fewer Israelis now support a ground invasion

A Friday poll found that nearly half of Israelis support delaying any invasion of Gaza.

According to a poll in the Maariv daily, when asked if the military should launch a massive ground operation right away, 29% of Israelis answered in the affirmative, 49% thought it would be best to wait, and 22% said they were unsure.

In contrast, the newspaper said that 65% of respondents supported a significant ground offensive in its survey conducted on October 19.

Maariv added that “it is almost certain that the developments on the matter of the captives, which is now topping the agenda, have had a great impact on this shift (in opinion)”.

Escalating war phobias

According to Anadolu Agency, a missile damaged a medical center and a residential building in the Egyptian tourist town of Taba, close to the Israeli border, early on Friday, injuring at least six persons.

According to those in the area, an investigation has been started.

According to local media, an unidentified Egyptian official stated that Egypt reserves the right to retaliate if it is established who fired the missile.

According to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli military confirmed that it was aware of a security incident that occurred around Taba and noted that it occurred “outside our border.”

As worries mounted that Israel’s conflict in Gaza would expand throughout the Middle East, two US fighter planes attacked weapons and ammunition sites in Syria on Friday in reprisal for attacks on US forces by an Iranian-backed militia.

According to the Pentagon, US President Joe Biden issued an order to launch strikes on the two locations that are utilized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and militia groups that it supports. If Iran’s proxies continue to launch attacks, the US will take further action, Biden warned.

In the last week, forces backed by Iran have assaulted US and coalition forces at least 19 times in Syria and Iraq. Tehran supports Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

At the UN on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian declared that the US will “not be spared from this fire” if Israel continues its attack against the Palestinians.

Two F-16 fighter jets carrying precision munitions carried out the US airstrikes near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town bordering Iraq, at about 4.30 a.m. on Friday, according to a US defense official.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that “these precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups against US personnel in Iraq and Syria that began on October 17.”

“These Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop,” Austin stated.

The White House announced earlier on Thursday that Biden had warned Tehran not to target US forces in the Middle East in an unusual communication to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran.

A senior US defense source stated, “What we want is for Iran to take very specific actions, to direct its militias and proxies to stand down.” The official said that the US did not coordinate the airstrikes with Israel.

Throughout the past three weeks, the US has dispatched fighter planes and warships to the area. In order to strengthen US personnel’s air defenses, the Pentagon announced on Thursday that roughly 900 more US soldiers have either arrived in the Middle East or are on their way there.

The political bureau director of the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, had issued a warning the day before about the repercussions of Israel’s continued attack on Gaza.

Following 20 days of battle in Gaza, he declared that the resistance “is very well.”

When one considers that “terrorism is the occupier, those who support it, and those who remain silent about the massacres,” Haniyeh asserted that all Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas, “are national liberation movements.”

“If the onslaught against Gaza doesn’t stop, the whole area will spiral out of control. Yes, the area has turned into a scorching tin roof these days, and nobody can foresee its course or result,” he remarked.

The head of Hamas insisted that all crossings, including Rafah, be opened so that Gaza may get all it needs “without restrictions or conditions.”

Additionally, Haniyeh called on “everyone, all the free people of the world, and all friendly, brotherly, and allied countries, to exert all the necessary pressure in all forums and in all directions to stop this war against our homes, mosques, universities, elders, children, and women, and to stop the aggression against Gaza.”

Additionally, he exhorted all presidents, dignitaries, and opinion leaders to declare unequivocally and unequivocally that Hamas and the Palestinian struggle are legitimate.