UN warns soon many more will die from Gaza siege n France calls for ‘humanitarian truce’ n Eyewitness say Gaza disconnected from outside world during Friday night bombardment.

JERUSALEM/GAZA  -  Israeli Defence Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Friday that the military had ramped up airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in the last few hours and will continue to carry out ground operations.

“The Air Force is striking underground targets very significantly,” he says, adding that ground forces will “expand” their activity tonight (Friday night).

For the last two days, IDF infantry forces and tanks conducted limited raids into the Gaza Strip. Hagari says the IDF will continue to strike Gaza City and surrounding areas in northern Gaza, and renews his call for Palestinians to evacuate to the Strip’s south.

Earlier on Friday, at least 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes on several homes in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip. In a statement, the Gaza- based Interior Ministry said that 12 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured in a series of fresh Israeli airstrikes on residential homes across the city. For the 21st day, the Israeli army continued to target Gaza with heavy airstrikes that destroyed entire neighborhoods and killed thousands of people. The conflict in Gaza began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a multipronged surprise attack on Oct. 7 that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air. Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 8,500 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,028 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis. 

Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been running out of food, water, medicine and fuel, and aid convoys allowed into the enclave have carried only a fraction of what is needed.

The Israeli military said Friday its ground forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a “targeted raid” in Gaza as it prepares for a land invasion.

Israel has launched blistering air and artillery strikes on Gaza for nearly three weeks after Hamas fighters staged the worst-ever attack in Israel’s history. “During the last day, IDF (Israeli military) ground forces, accompanied by IDF fighter jets and UAVs, conducted an additional targeted raid in the central Gaza Strip,” an army statement said. 

“The IDF identified and struck numerous targets, including anti- tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas terrorists,” it said, saying troops “exited the area at the end of the activity”. Black-and-white footage released by the military showed a column of armoured vehicles as a thick cloud of dust billowed into the sky after the strikes.

The military conducted a similar ground operation using tanks and infantry the previous night in the northern part of the Palestinian territory. 

‘MANY MORE TO DIE’ FROM GAZA SIEGE’

The UN warned Friday that “many more will die” in Gaza from catastrophic shortages after nearly three weeks of bombardment by Israel in response to Hamas staging the deadliest attack in its history. 

As the conflict raged into its 21st day, the Israeli army said its soldiers backed by fighter jets and drones mounted a land incursion into the Gaza Strip, as it prepares for a ground offensive. Concern is growing about regional fallout from the conflict, with the United States warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it says were used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others. 

Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, kidnapping more than 220 others, according to Israeli officials. 

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says the strikes have killed more than 7,000 people, mainly civilians and many of them children, leading to growing calls for protection of innocents caught up in the conflict. “People in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege imposed on the Gaza Strip,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), told reporters in Jerusalem. Israel has cut supplies of food, water and power to Gaza, notably blocking all deliveries of fuel saying it would be exploited by Hamas to manufacture weapons and explosives. 

“Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage,” he said of the devastated territory where around 45 percent of all housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN which cited local authorities.

Macron calls for ‘humanitarian truce’ in Hamas-Israel conflict French President Emmanuel Macron called Friday for a “humanitarian truce” in the Hamas-Israel conflict for the protection of civilians in Gaza. 

“A humanitarian truce is useful today to be able to protect those who are on the ground, who have suffered bombings,” Macron said.