Gaza officials say more than 5,000 have been killed as Israeli strikes intensify
JERUSALEM — Israel's retaliatory air campaign across Gaza intensified overnight into Monday as essential supplies like food, water and medical supplies trickled into the region ahead of an expected ground invasion.
The Israel Defense Forces said the military struck over 320 military targets on Sunday, with a focus on Hamas headquarters, tunnels and firing positions in Gaza.
The overnight airstrikes killed more than 200 people, including in Rafah and Khan Younis, two cities in the south of Gaza that are crowded full of Palestinians who have evacuated from the northern part of the territory at Israel's urging. More than half of Gaza's population of some 2.2 million people has been displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations.
According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, the Palestinian death toll has reached 5,087 since Oct. 7, the day Hamas unleashed the deadliest attacks on civilians since Israel's founding in 1948. Fourteen hundred people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli officials.
Fighting outside Gaza has also escalated. Over the weekend, several Israeli towns near the Israel-Lebanon border were evacuated amid rocket exchanges and gunfire with the Iranian-backed militant group, Hezbollah. Israel has also increased its airstrikes in the West Bank — a rarity prior to the current conflict — in an effort to fight off Hamas.
In Gaza, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the military also conducted raids in an effort to find any hostages.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Forces raised the confirmed number of Hamas hostages to 222, saying the total now includes a number of foreign nationals who were not initially on the list.
"We are working in all ways to free the hostages and bring them home," Hagari said, according to The Guardian, adding that the weekend Israeli raids inside Gaza were aimed at gathering information on them.
At least 10 Americans remain unaccounted for, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday while briefing reporters about the release of two Americans who were being held hostage — Judith Raanan, 59, and Natalie Raanan, 17, a mother and daughter from Illinois.
A small, third round of aid was expected in Gaza on Monday
After an initial delivery of 20 truckloads worth of aid Saturday, another 14 followed on Sunday. An additional shipment entered Monday, according to the AP.
But humanitarian workers say the relief is not nearly enough. The shipments amount to about 3% of what would normally cross the border before the hostilities began, according to the U.N.
The trucks contain medicine and other medical supplies, along with food and water. But no fuel has been allowed to enter Gaza. For normal Palestinians, gasoline and diesel have become nearly impossible to obtain, limiting their mobility. Many families report that their only remaining fuel is what is left in their vehicle's tank.
With Gaza's main power plant still out of operation, fuel is also needed to power generators for critical infrastructure, including hospitals, desalination plants and wastewater treatment facilities.
An emergency supply of fuel held by the U.N.'s relief agency for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, will be exhausted within a few days, officials have warned.
"Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach those in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance," said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's commissioner-general, in a statement issued Sunday. "Without fuel, we will fail the people of Gaza whose needs are growing by the hour, under our watch."
Virtually every medical specialty in Gaza has run out of supplies, said Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon working at al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical center.
An estimated 14,000 wounded "have consumed all of the supplies in the system, from the medication to the equipment to everything you can imagine is required to care for such traumatic injuries and such critically ill patients," he told NPR.
"Not only are the supplies consumed, but also the staff has been consumed," he added.
World leaders call for 'stability' while affirming Israel's right to respond
Amid the worsening humanitarian crisis, a group of Western leaders issued a joint statement Sunday reiterating support for Israel's "right to defend itself against terrorism" while also calling for the country to adhere to humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians.
The statement came after a phone call between President Biden, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom.
The leaders committed to coordinating with partners in the region to ensure aid reached those in Gaza, as well as "close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace," the statement reads.
The comments from Western leaders came after Biden held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which the two agreed to a "continued flow" of aid into Gaza, the White House said.
The conversation was just one of dozens Netanyahu has had with world leaders in recent days. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is visiting Israel today, while France's Macron is scheduled to visit tomorrow.
China's special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, is also in the region today. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is also planning to head to the Middle East, but will start with allies in Iran on Monday.
NPR's Emily Olson contributed reporting. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
