After one month of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has encircled the region and divided the besieged coastal strip into two. Moreover, Gaza came under the third total communications outage since the start of the war on Monday.
Despite appeals and overseas demonstrations, Israel has continued its bombardment across Gaza, saying it is targeting Hamas and accusing it of using civilians as human shields. Critics say Israel’s strikes are often disproportionate, considering the large number of civilians killed.
The prolonged war will cost Israel as much as 200 billion shekels ($51 billion), the Calcalist financial newspaper reported.
Calcalist said half of the cost would be in defence expenses that amount to some 1 billion shekels a day. Another 40-60 billion shekels would come from a loss of revenue, 17-20 billion for compensation for businesses and 10-20 billion shekels for rehabilitation.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said more than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, more than 4,000 of them children and minors. That toll likely will rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighborhoods.
Israel-Gaza war: Top-10 updates
- The Israeli Army said on Sunday that "significant strikes" are being carried out and the Gaza Strip has been "cut into two". "Troops reached the coastline and are holding it", an Israeli Army spokesperson said.
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- Hamas said the Israeli army carried out "intense bombings" on Sunday evening around several hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip. The vicinity of the Palestinian territory's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, saw particularly heavy strikes. The bombing came after the Israeli military once again accused Hamas of using hospitals in their military campaign against Israel.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took his diplomatic push on the Israel-Hamas war to the occupied West Bank on Sunday, trying to assure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the Biden administration was intensifying efforts to ease the plight of Gaza's civilians. President Joe Biden's top diplomat later flew to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as American forces in the region face a surge of attacks by Iranian-allied militias in Iraq and elsewhere.
- Jordan's Air Force personnel air-dropped urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza early on Monday. Jordan announced last week recalled its ambassador to Israel and told the Israeli ambassador to stay away in protest at the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, saying the attacks had killed innocents and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
Also read: ‘Israel won’t agree to Gaza ceasefire unless…': PM Netanyahu issues ultimatum amid war with Hamas
- CIA Director William J Burns, arrived in Israel on Sunday to hold discussions with leaders and intelligence officials, the first stop in a multi-country trip in the region, the New York Times reported citing US officials. The visit comes as the US is trying to prod Israel to allow pauses in the fighting for aid to enter Gaza.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel will not agree to a ceasefire until the Hamas terror group releases the hostages it is holding. "Take this (word 'ceasefire') out of the lexicon. We will continue until we defeat them; we do not have an alternative," Netanyahu is quoted saying in a statement from his office.
Also read: Israel cuts off internet, telecommunications services in Gaza Strip