Roving Periscope: On eve of Trump-Putin talk, Israeli air strikes kill over 400 in Gaza
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With the danger of fragile ceasefire breaking, Israel resumed fierce air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing at least 400 people, even as US President Donald Trump gave finishing touches for a telephonic conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a bid to end the three-year-long conflict in Ukraine.
According to the media reports, Israeli warplanes launched a massive assault across the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday morning, killing at least 404 people, including many children, and injuring numerous others. The death toll is likely to rise as many people remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.
The latest attacks come during the second half of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel’s fresh attacks have shattered the fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas that began on January 19 to end the ongoing war that may have claimed over 62,000 lives since Sunni Hamas terror group invaded Southern Israel on October 7, 2023..
Israeli attacks targeted various areas across the Gaza Strip, from north to south, including Jabalia, Beit Hanoon, Gaza City, Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. Areas that had been designated as safe humanitarian zones, including the al-Mawasi zones, were also attacked.
In a statement on X, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee ordered residents of several areas to “evacuate immediately”, saying their neighbourhoods will become “dangerous combat zones,” He said these civilians should head to shelters in western Gaza City or Khan Younis.
On January 15, Israel and Hamas reached a deal on a three-phase ceasefire deal to halt more than 460 days of the war that has devastated Gaza.
The deal, which took effect on January 19, included a ceasefire to halt the destruction inflicted on Gaza, the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and the possibility for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
However, Israel allegedly violated the ceasefire numerous times from January 19 to March 17, killing at least 170 people in Gaza, averaging nearly three deaths a day. Gaza authorities have documented over 350 violations by Israel, including military incursions, gunfire, air raids, intensified surveillance, and the obstruction of aid.
The fresh Israeli attacks came on top of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
On March 2, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid into Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, cutting off food, medicine and fuel.
This raised global condemnation, with European nations warning the blockade could breach international humanitarian law. Humanitarian conditions worsened as aid trucks were stranded outside Gaza, resulting in a rising risk of hunger and malnutrition.
According to reports, nearly 2.2 million people in Gaza are experiencing “an acute food insecurity” crisis, and one million people will be deprived of the benefits of World Food Program assistance if Israel refuses more access to them.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that at least 48,577 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 112,041 wounded in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. This means one in every 50 people in Gaza has been killed, and one in every 20 has been wounded.
On February 3, the Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, noting that thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble were presumed dead.
During the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that triggered the ongoing war, 1,139 people died and more than 200 were taken captive.
