Israel continues bombing Gaza, international community calls for ceasefire

Amid concerns that the Hamas-Israel conflict could spread across the Middle East, the Israeli military said its warplanes had struck Syrian military infrastructure and mortars in response to rocket fire from Iran's ally Syria.

The Israeli military did not provide further information. Citing military sources, the Syrian state media agency (SANA) said the Israeli attack killed eight soldiers and wounded seven others in “an aggressive air campaign” in the southwestern city of Deraa.

The United States and Russia are leading the international community in calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow aid to reach Gaza, where Palestinians are living in dire conditions.

A total of 704 Palestinians, including many children, were killed on Tuesday, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the daily death toll was the highest since the conflict began three weeks ago.

Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns on October 7, killing several people.

The White House said US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed in a call on Tuesday to develop a broader foreign policy “to ensure regional stability and prevent the conflict from spreading”.

Bloody confrontations are erupting between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah on the two countries' border.

Aiming to improve its regional standing, Iran has supported Hamas and Hezbollah, and has warned Israel to stop bombing Gaza.

Israeli forces staged an overnight raid in the West Bank and confronted a group of Palestinians, before the Israeli military launched a drone strike. Palestinian officials said three people were killed.

The Israeli military also said it was targeting a group of Hamas divers attempting to enter Israel by sea near Kibbutz Zikim. Hamas has not commented on the incident.
The US has called on Israel to temporarily avoid launching a ground attack while Washington continues to try to free 200 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

However, when asked if he was urging Israel to delay a ground attack, US President Joe Biden said: “The Israelis are making their own decision.”

World - Israel continues to bomb Gaza, international community calls for ceasefire, allows relief — Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa.

In a statement posted on social media, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said 5,791 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings since October 7, including 2,360 children.

US and Russia make conflicting invitations

Eight trucks carrying aid including water, food and medicine entered Gaza from Egypt late Tuesday. UN agencies say 20 times the current level of aid is needed to reach the 2.3 million people in the coastal enclave.

At the United Nations, the United States and Russia are proposing two competing plans for delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. Washington has called for a temporary halt to fighting and Russia wants a humanitarian ceasefire. A ceasefire is typically less formal and shorter-lived than a ceasefire.

“The whole world is looking to the Security Council for a quick and unconditional ceasefire,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council. Arab countries fully support the possibility of a humanitarian ceasefire in the face of widespread devastation in Gaza.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called last week for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

“While we oppose a ceasefire, we believe that a humanitarian pause that would allow relief supplies to reach Gaza while still allowing Israel to conduct military operations in defense of its national interests is an option worth considering,” a US official said.

Hospitals run out of fuel

Doctors in Gaza are saying patients are arriving at hospitals showing signs of infection due to overcrowding and poor sanitation after more than 1.4 million people were forced to flee their homes to temporary shelters.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than a third of Gaza's hospitals and nearly two-thirds of primary care clinics had been closed due to lack of fuel.

UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, warned in a post on X that it may have to stop operations in Gaza overnight on Wednesday due to fuel shortages.

However, the Israeli military reiterated on Tuesday that it would continue to ban fuel shipments to avoid allowing Hamas to seize them.

Three diplomats and a regional insider said negotiators from Qatar were pressing Hamas to release the hostages, including women and children, and to do so without demanding concessions from Israel.

With the cooperation of the United States, the Gulf state is leading negotiations with Hamas and Israel on the release of the hostages.

So far, Hamas has released four hostages, a mother and daughter with dual US-Israeli citizenship on Friday and two Israeli women on Monday.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

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