But airstrikes continue to bombard strife-torn region
Smoke ascending over the northern Gaza Strip following an Israeli strike. Pic/AP
Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza early Monday, including in areas where Palestinian civilians have been told to seek refuge, after another small aid shipment was allowed into the besieged Hamas-ruled territory.
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Israel has still not allowed any fuel to enter Gaza, where there has been a power blackout for nearly two weeks. Hospitals say they are scrounging for generator fuel in order to keep operating life-saving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies.
Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israeli communities. Tanks and troops have been massed at the Gaza border, and Israel says it has stepped up airstrikes in order to reduce the risk to troops in the next stages.
Israel eliminates 20 Hezbollah cells
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said the military has carried strikes to eliminate 20 Hezbollah cells in southern Lebanon since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Hagari said the military has so far notified the families of 222 hostages that their loved ones are being held in the Gaza Strip. He said the number includes foreign nationals, and that it has taken time for them to be identified and for their families to be notified.
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Netanyahu warns Hezbollah to stay out of war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops stationed near the border with Lebanon, where the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants also have traded fire during the Hamas-Israel war. A top official with Iran Hezbollah vowed that Israel would pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in Gaza and said his militant group based in Lebanon already is “in the heart of the battle.” Netanyahu said Israel would react more fiercely than it did during its short 2006 war.
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