以色列轟炸加薩南部，居民擔心新的地面攻勢

On Saturday, Israeli warplanes and artillery launched an assault on the southern region of the Gaza Strip. The targets included mosques, residential areas, and the vicinity of a hospital. This offensive followed the breakdown of a truce in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas militants, which has been raging for nearly two months. The local populace expressed fears that these attacks were a precursor to an Israeli ground operation in the southern part of the Palestinian territory. They were apprehensive about being confined to a diminishing area and potentially being forced into neighboring Egypt.

The Gaza health ministry reported that since the cessation of the truce on Friday morning, at least 193 Palestinians had been killed and 650 injured. This is in addition to the more than 15,000 Palestinian casualties since the inception of the war. Israel has pledged to eradicate Hamas, asserting that the Islamist group poses an existential threat. They argue that their actions are in response to an adversary intent on their annihilation. Throughout Saturday morning, a constant influx of injured individuals were admitted to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, with some patients even receiving treatment on the floor due to the overwhelming number of casualties.

The head of the International Red Cross described the renewed hostilities as intense, likening it to a new wave of destruction superimposed on the already extensive devastation of critical infrastructure, civilian residences, and neighborhoods. The first aid trucks since the termination of the truce entered Gaza via the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Saturday. A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza's civilians as the conflict resumed. The warring factions blamed each other for the collapse of the seven-day truce, during which Hamas had released hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails.