Conflict is spreading in the Middle East.

SGGP 31/10/2023 05:50

Reuters, citing several sources, reported that early on October 30, the Israeli army launched intense airstrikes and artillery bombardments in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli soldiers, supported by tanks, continued to expand their ground operation against Hamas forces.

Smoke rises from the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 30.

Gunfire echoed throughout the night.

The Israeli army said it had attacked more than 600 Hamas targets in the past few days, killing dozens of militants holed up in buildings and tunnels. Meanwhile, Palestinian media reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted areas near Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals in the Gaza Strip; and Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli forces in the eastern border area of ​​Khan Younis (southern Gaza).

Health officials in the Gaza Strip said at least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured when Israeli ground forces advanced into Gaza from multiple directions on the night of October 29.

According to many residents in the Gaza Strip, they heard gunfire and explosions throughout the night. Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups reported fighting with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip as well as in the city of Jenin in the West Bank. Israel has now expanded its ground offensive, turning the entire northern Gaza Strip into a battlefield.

Along with the aerial bombing campaign, the Israeli military announced an increase in troop numbers and a deeper penetration into the Gaza Strip, while also releasing videos showing Merkava tanks in action in the territory.

In a related development, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had recorded 10 missile launches from Lebanon into Israeli territory on October 29, and that the IDF was launching a retaliatory strike.

On the same day, Hezbollah armed forces in Lebanon announced they had shot down an Israeli drone in southern Lebanon with a surface-to-air missile. This was the first time Hezbollah had claimed to have shot down an Israeli drone.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israel launched a missile attack on several areas in the southern Syrian province of Daraa in retaliation for alleged missile launches from Syria.

Increased fighting is occurring simultaneously on all three fronts where the Israeli army is deployed, raising regional concerns that the conflict risks spreading throughout the Middle East.

Protecting civilians

The White House announced that US President Joe Biden had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and stressed the need for Israel to protect civilians. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud also spoke by phone, emphasizing the need for immediate regional and international action to stop Israeli attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store condemned the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that nearly half of the thousands killed were children. The Norwegian Prime Minister also stated that Israel has the right to self-defense and that it is very difficult to defend against attacks from a densely populated area like Gaza, while criticizing the continued firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel.

In an updated report on the situation on the morning of October 30, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that 33 trucks carrying water, food, and medicine had entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border. This is the largest aid convoy to enter the strip, home to more than 2.3 million people, since the Hamas-Israel conflict erupted earlier this month.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/xung-dot-lan-rong-o-trung-dong-post712097.html