Israel engages Hamas militants inside Gaza’s tunnels.

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected demands for a stop to the combat to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, Israel stated on Tuesday that its troops had struck Hamas terrorists within the enormous tunnel network that the Islamists have constructed beneath Gaza.

The tunnels are a primary priority for Israel as it escalates its ground operations inside Gaza to eradicate the governing Hamas organization in the wake of its gun spree three weeks ago, which Israeli authorities claim killed more than 1,400 people in total.

“Over the last day, combined IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated in a press release.

According to the report, in response, militants fired anti-tank rockets and machine gun fire.

“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” according to the Israel Defense Force.

According to eyewitnesses, Israeli soldiers struck Gaza City from two different directions on Monday and focused their fire on the critical north-south thoroughfare in Gaza. Israeli forces reportedly liberated an Israeli soldier after he was held captive by Hamas.

Israel claims that Hamas took 239 citizens captive on October 7, and since then, the Islamist militant organization that administers Gaza, Hamas, has freed just four of those people. It is thought that the Hamas tunnel network is holding a significant number of captives.

According to the al-Qassam brigades, Hamas’ armed branch, there were clashes early on Tuesday morning between militants and Israeli troops “invading the southern Gaza axis, (including) with machine guns, and targeting four vehicles with al-Yassin 105 missiles,” which is a reference to locally built anti-tank missiles.

According to al-Qassam, the militants also used the missiles to strike two Israeli tanks and bulldozers that were located in the northwest of Gaza.

Reuters was unable to verify the reports that combat had taken place. There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli military.

Since October 7, health officials in Gaza have reported that 8,306 individuals, including 3,457 children, have been died as a result of Israeli bombardment. More than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of around 2.3 million have been rendered homeless, according to authorities from the United Nations.

The United States of America, which is Israel’s most important partner, together with other nations and the United Nations, have all called for a halt to the fighting to allow more humanitarian supplies to enter the enclave as the death toll continues to rise.

Late on Monday night, Netanyahu declared that Israel would not accept a ceasefire of hostilities with Hamas in Gaza and that the country would instead move forward with its preparations to eradicate the organization.

“Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to succumb to Hamas. They are calls for Israel to surrender to terrorism. They are appeals for Israel to surrender to savagery. Netanyahu stated categorically in public remarks that “that will not happen.”

According to military professionals, Israeli troops are advancing cautiously in their ground attack, in part to maintain the potential that Hamas militants could negotiate the release of the hostages. This keeps the door open for the possibility that Hamas will arrange the release of the hostages.

The relative caution with which Israeli troops have taken and secured slices of territory in the first days of sustained ground operations in Gaza stands in contrast to the past three weeks of unrelenting air strikes that have been carried out on the Mediterranean enclave, as well as to Israel’s previous land offensives there. On the first day of sustained ground operations in Gaza, Israeli troops took and secured an area that was approximately the size of a football field.

“DISASTER UPON DISASTER,”

As the saying goes. In recent days, the Israeli military has claimed to have targeted more than 600 terrorist targets in Gaza, which is home to Palestinian people who are in critical need of gasoline, food, and clean water.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that water supplies from Israel to southern Gaza were shut off on Monday “for unknown reasons” and that an announced repair of another pipeline to central Gaza did not occur. These events occurred after an announcement that another pipeline to central Gaza would be repaired.

According to a statement that was published on the OCHA website, “at the time of writing,” Israel is not providing any water to the Gaza Strip.

According to authorities from the United Nations, much fewer trucks carrying humanitarian goods have arrived to the besieged enclave than are necessary, and civil order has broken down as people have been storming United Nations facilities in search of food.

According to a statement released by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) on Monday, this has rendered inoperable four humanitarian distribution centers and a storage facility run by the United Nations.

It’s a catastrophe piled on top of a disaster. “The health needs are skyrocketing, and our ability to meet those needs is rapidly declining,” Rick Brennan, the regional emergencies head for the World Health Organization, said. He was echoing the international community’s appeals for a ceasefire so that a broader humanitarian operation could occur.

Rafah is the central gate that does not border Israel, and during the past week, aid trucks from Egypt have been slowly making their way into Gaza through that entrance. Since Israel began what it calls a “total siege” of Gaza on October 7, this crossing has emerged as the most critical site for the supply of humanitarian goods.

The White House has stated that efforts are being made to increase the number of assistance vehicles entering Gaza.

TAKEN HOSTAGES
On Monday, Hamas disseminated a video that showed three hostages that the Islamist outfit had taken the previous week, on October 7.

Netanyahu named the three ladies Yelena Trupanob, Danielle Aloni, and Rimon Kirsht. The women were seen sitting beside one another against an empty wall, and Aloni delivered an angry message to the prime minister.

Netanyahu referred to the film as “cruel psychological propaganda” and stated that Israel’s ground battle opened the door for the possibility of the captives being rescued.

The war has resulted in antisemitic and Islamophobic abuse as well as protests in support of the Palestinians that have taken place all around the world.

Officials from the Biden administration, alarmed by reports of anti-Jewish occurrences at universities in the United States, met with leaders of American Jewish organizations on Monday to explore possible actions to take in response to the rise in incidents, according to a White House official.

After rioters in the predominately Muslim area of Dagestan stormed an airport in an attempt to “catch” Jewish travelers on a flight from Tel Aviv, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West and Ukraine of stirring up trouble inside Russia. Putin made these accusations after the incident.