Two days have passed since the unexpected multiple attack led by Hamas and Israel is still discovering the dimensions of the impact. It is preparing to expand the counter-offensive against the Palestinian militias in Gaza, as part of a full-scale war that has already left more than 700 Israelis and more than 400 Gazans dead, including children on both sides. The wounded are more than 2,000 on each side.
For Israel’s forces, the priority, before undertaking what is expected to be a prolonged and large-scale retaliation, is to regain full control of the south, in the border areas with the strip, from where hundreds of militants Islamists managed to infiltrate, attack communities and police and military installations and kidnap more than a hundred people.
In this street-by-street search, the Israeli soldiers succeeded in the early hours of yesterday in freeing hostages from the Be’eri and Ofakim kibbutzim and regaining command of the Sderot police station. In the fighting, an Israeli military spokesman said the army killed hundreds of armed militiamen, in addition to about 400 who died in the multiple bombings of Gaza, on which Israel has promised to increase the intensity.
Behind each zone secured by Israeli officers, the troops have encountered Dantesque scenes. Dubi Wiesnester, general director of ZAKA – the volunteer group that recovers the bodies of the dead – described “difficult images that we had never seen before” and detailed that the organization’s teams are spread across the south, “focused on treating the deceased with respect and collect the many finds in each scene”.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has appointed Gal Hirsch, a reservist general who commanded an army division in the 2006 Lebanon war, to coordinate the unit for kidnapped or missing citizens, a position that had been vacant since the ‘last year. And it is that identifying the dead or captured and finding the missing has become an imperative need for relatives, who have come in large numbers to a police station authorized to address the issue in the area of ??Ben Gurion International Airport.
Throughout Sunday they brought personal items of their loved ones to take DNA samples. A mother interviewed by Reuters said she brought the toothbrush of her son, who has not heard from him since he attended an open-air party in southern Israel and came under fire from militiamen. Hamas infiltrators.
In the same way, some posters have appeared on the streets with photographs of people whose whereabouts are being sought, based on data such as age or appearance. In Jerusalem, a young man who looked at these posters commented to La Vanguardia about his discomfort and fear about the situation: “Yesterday I had to take a friend to his house and I was afraid that I would meet a terrorist in the street. It had never happened to me.”
Still in shock and under the state of emergency declared throughout Israeli territory, the streets of many Israeli cities were almost empty yesterday, with classes suspended until at least Tuesday, non-essential medical services cancelled, shops opening subject to to whether they have shelters and several people choosing to telework.
On the war front, already with the state of war formally ratified by Netanyahu’s Cabinet, the bombings of Gaza intensified and have reached the close of this edition on more than 800 Hamas installations, according to the spokesman Israeli military, who detailed that command centers, tunnels and rocket launchers were destroyed.
Likewise, the Israeli counterattack appears to be in its infancy and will grow in intensity. That is why the army has begun the evacuation of residents of 24 communities close to Gaza, at the same time issuing a warning for the inhabitants of the strip to leave areas on which stronger bombardments are expected.
It is clear that for the more than two million inhabitants of the overpopulated enclave blocked by Israel and Egypt, there are not many chances to take refuge. The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) received more than 20,000 people in 44 of its schools distributed in the strip and expects more to continue to arrive, especially from the border areas with Israel.
In addition, the Israeli authorities have cut the flow of electricity and have left the inhabitants of Gaza with less than four hours of light a day, achieved by means of generators. Likewise, many citizens were deprived of basic products.
Faced with this scenario, the World Food Program noted that although Gaza stores “currently hold a month’s supply of food, they are at risk of running out quickly as people stock up on fear of a prolonged conflict”.
On the other hand, while the focus is on the south and Gaza, another front threatens Israel in the north, after the Shiite organization Hizbullah claimed mortar fire and projectiles against three Israeli positions “in solidarity” with Hamas. To this the Israeli forces responded with bombardments from a tent located on the blue line, the border designated by the UN between Lebanon and Israel, two states that, technically, are still at war.
In Egypt, two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed by a policeman outright, in what is feared to be an action related to events in Israel. Several European capitals have strengthened security around synagogues and Jewish meeting centers.
