The Israeli military announced on Thursday that it had temporarily deployed tanks into the northern Gaza Strip during the night as part of preparations for the next phase of combat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suggested that a ground invasion by the troops amassed at the enclave’s border was likely.
The military, in a Telegram post, stated that it had targeted multiple objectives and “operated to prepare the battlefield” without offering further details. In a televised speech on Wednesday evening, Mr. Netanyahu pledged that Israel would retaliate against the armed group Hamas for the October 7 attack that resulted in more than 1,400 casualties and the capture of over 200 hostages.
Following the Hamas attack, Israel launched an aerial and artillery assault that was more extensive, destructive, and deadly than any seen in Gaza before. The Hamas-controlled government in Gaza claimed on Thursday that the Israeli campaign had resulted in over 7,000 casualties, with nearly 2,000 individuals trapped in the ruins of demolished structures. These numbers could not be independently verified.
On Thursday, Hamas’s health ministry released a list of 6,747 names of confirmed casualties, including 2,665 children, along with each person’s ID number, age, and gender. The ministry also stated that 281 other casualties from the bombardment could not be identified.
This response appeared to be in reaction to President Biden’s statement on Wednesday in which he expressed “no confidence” in the death toll provided by Gazan authorities. Last week, Hamas officials had reported that the death toll in an explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City was 471, while U.S. intelligence agencies estimated it to be between 100 and 300.
As a result of Israel’s destruction of numerous buildings and the relocation of the northern Gaza population to the south, international aid organizations report that over half of the territory’s 2 million people have been displaced.
The Israeli military also stated that it had conducted more than 250 airstrikes in the past 24 hours. The Gazan health ministry reported that at least 43 of these airstrikes had occurred in southern Gaza, the region to which Israel has directed civilians for safety. Israel asserts that it is targeting Hamas objectives, often concealed within or beneath residential buildings, mosques, schools, and other civilian sites, while Palestinians accuse Israel of indiscriminately killing civilians.
