Israeli tanks and helicopters gather at the border… Ground war imminent

Defense Minister Lee: “We will launch an all-out attack”
Evacuation order for border residents… Reserve force call-up
U.S. dispatches Blinken locally for “additional support”
Deaths between Israel and Palestine approach 3,800

On the 10th (local time), Israel surrounded the border of the Gaza Strip, the base of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, with tanks and armored vehicles, indicating that the entry of ground troops was imminent. It will be the first time in nine years since 2014 that actual ground troops are deployed. On the same day, U.S. President Joe Biden defined Hamas’ attacks on Israel as “sheer evil” and said he would send Secretary of State Tony Blinken to Israel and Jordan from the 11th to the 13th to inspect the local situation and provide additional support. revealed.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on the 10th, “We are lifting all restrictions on our military. “We will launch an all-out attack,” he said, suggesting the deployment of ground troops. According to the British Guardian, an Israeli army tank passed through ‘Road 232’ adjacent to the Gaza Strip this morning, and a military helicopter flew over the area. The Israeli army set up barracks near the barbed wire fence surrounding the Gaza Strip.

On the night of the 9th, Israeli authorities warned their citizens near the Gaza Strip to “prepare for evacuation.” The instruction to “prepare enough food and water to last for the next 72 hours” can also be interpreted as a signal indicating an imminent ground battle. The Washington Post (WP) reported that Israel has also issued a call-up order for 360,000 reserve forces located around the world.

U.S. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on the 10th, “President Biden has ordered the establishment of emergency plans for all escalation scenarios. “We are consulting with our allies and partner countries about potential scenarios that will unfold in the future.” Regarding the concerns over civilian safety due to the start of the ground war, he revealed that he was discussing securing an evacuation route with Israel and Egypt.

This is interpreted as a result of the increasing possibility that this war will spread to neighboring countries in the Middle East, as attacks on Israel continued on this day in neighboring countries such as Syria and Lebanon, and Yemen’s Shia rebel group ‘Houthi’ also stepped up to support Hamas. According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, the Iranian Foreign Minister, who is accused of being behind Hamas, said in a phone call with the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister on the 11th, “Islamic countries must respond to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and war crimes.”

In this situation, the United States expressed its will to join forces with its allies to support Israel. The US aircraft carrier ‘Gerald Ford’, which received an order for deployment from President Biden, arrived in its destination, the Eastern Mediterranean near Israel, on the 10th. It was also decided to dispatch hostage rescue experts and special forces to Israel to free hostages kidnapped by Hamas. According to Al Jazeera and others on the 11th, the total number of deaths on both sides due to this war exceeded at least 3,775.

On the 10th, Israeli soldiers are recovering the body of a civilian killed by Hamas at Kfar Aza Kibbutz, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, the base of the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Israel condemned Hamas as a war crime, saying it brutally murdered at least 100 civilians, including infants, children and the elderly. Kfar Aja = AP Newsis

Suspicions are being raised that Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that carried out a surprise attack on Israel, committed a ‘war crime’ by brutally massacring civilians, including infants and children. On the 10th, the Israeli military disclosed the tragic situation, saying that the circumstances of the massacre of civilians were revealed at the ‘Kfar Aza’ collective farm (Kibbutz), just 3km away from the Gaza Strip, the base of Hamas. Hamas told Al Jazeera on the 11th, “We do not target children (attacks). He denied it, saying, “You shouldn’t believe a story full of lies and slander,” but the controversy has not subsided.

According to an Israeli military official mobilized to collect the scene, at least 40 bodies of infants and children were found in this kibbutz alone. Including these, at least 100 civilian bodies were discovered. It is also known that there is a high possibility of additional deaths.

The New York Times (NYT) reporters who entered this kibbutz said that they directly witnessed corpses everywhere. During the Israeli military’s search, cases were discovered one after another of entire families, including babies, being shot and killed inside their homes. Blood-stained children’s clothes, strollers, and blood on the floor of the house show the terrible situation at the time.

Local media outlet The Times of Israel reported that the body of a woman with her clothes removed abandoned on the street was also identified. The BBC reported that the abandoned bodies were decomposing rapidly due to the hot Mediterranean sun, creating a foul odor throughout the area. Some bodies had not yet been recovered and were lying down, barely covered with blankets.

There are even unconfirmed, sinister rumors floating around that a baby’s body with its head cut off was found here. There are also claims that Hamas burned civilians who had taken refuge inside their houses to avoid their attacks by burning them to death to prevent them from coming out. In fact, several houses in the kibbutz were burned.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others reported that at least 108 bodies were found in nearby Beeri Kibbutz. An official from the local relief organization ‘Zaka’, which recovered the body here, also raised suspicions of war crimes, saying that the body of an infant was found.

Hamas infiltrated about 20 cities and villages, including two kibbutzim, on the 7th, the day of the invasion, but most of them have now been recaptured by the Israeli military. The Israeli military presented evidence of this massacre based on testimonies and videos of surviving residents, and security cameras in the area. An official who helped collect the bodies in Kfar Aza told the NYT, “This is not a war, it is a massacre,” and said that the situation is comparable to the “Holocaust” of Nazi Germany that his grandparents’ generation experienced during World War II. condemned.

Cairo =

Washington =

Source: Donga

Mark

Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.