US asserts – ‘absolutely no intention’ to send troops to Israel; largest aid convoy enters Gaza. Top updates
As the war rages, civilians in Gaza struggle to find basics such as food, water and medicines. Israel accuses Hamas of playing ‘psycological games’.
The Israel-Hamas war has entered the 24th day and the conflict seems far from end. The Israeli troops indulged in ‘heavy fighting’ with the Hamas militant group as they entered into the ‘next stage’ of retaliation following the surprising assault October 7. After weeks of ferocious airstrikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the second stage would be ‘long and difficult’.
Meanwhile, Gaza came back online after the two-day internet and communications blackout on Sunday after the cellular services were restored gradually. According to a Washington Post report, the US pushed Israel to restore the services in the beseiged enclave.
According to Hamas' health ministry, over 8,000 people, including 3,324 minors, have been killed since Israel launched its offence, as opposed to 1,400 lives claimed in the surprise assault by the Islamist group. Over 200 hostages are believed to have been held captive in Gaza.
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Amid fears that the war may get escalated, US Vice President Kamala Harris asserted that they have no intension in putting boots on the ground in Israel.
- The United Nations said over 30 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered Gaza on Sunday, the largest single-convoy entry into thee war-ravaged Palestinian enclave since the war began. So far, 117 trucks have entered through Rafah border through Egypt.
- The US said it ‘made clear’ that communications and internet services in Gaza are restored in its attempt to pressur Israel. The Washington Post cited an US official who said “We made it clear that it had to be turned back on.” “They need to stay back on.”
- US VP Kamala Harris assured that that Washington has ‘absolutely no intention’ of sending troops to Israel or Gaza amid the ongoing conflict. "We have absolutely no intention, nor do we have any plans, to send combat troops into Israel or Gaza, period," Harris said in an intrview with CBS' ‘60 Minutes’.
- Hamas on Sunday said its Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades was engaged in ‘heavy fighting’ with Israel troops inside the northern Gaza amid the ‘second stage’ of Israel's retaliation.
- Meanwhile, Israel claimed to have struckk more than ‘600 terror targets, including operational command centres, observation posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts’.
- The Israeli troops are poised to expand ground activity and the scope of its forces inside the Gaza Strip. With a fierce urban war now feared, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari told Palestinian civilians to go south ‘to a safer area’. "We are gradually expanding the ground activity and the scope of our forces in the Gaza Strip," he said.
- The UN said ‘thousands of people’ in Gaza ransacked warehouses looking for tinned food, flour, oil and hygiene supplies as they struggle find essentials such as to find even the basics amid shortages of food, water and medicine.
- Israel accused Hamas of playing ‘psychological games’ after the Palestinian militant group claimed ‘almost 50’ hostages were by Israeli strikes which riled up concerns among family members of those held captives in Gaza. "Hamas is cynically using those who are dear to us -- they understand the pain and the pressure," said Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.