The Israeli Army has intensified its bombings on the Gaza Strip in recent hours. In the last day more than 300 Hamas targets have been attacked. The projectiles have also hit neighborhoods where hundreds of civilians have died. The war reaches its seventeenth day and the intention of the Jewish State to enter the Palestinian territory remains unchanged. This Monday, the Israeli Army asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give the green light to the ground incursion into the enclave, claiming that Israeli soldiers have been preparing for days and “cannot wait forever.”

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have acknowledged to the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel that “they would achieve their objectives even despite suffering casualties among their ranks.”. This is one of the reasons why the ground invasion of Gaza could be delaying. The military assures that this operation must be launched “as soon as possible” and reiterates the promise made since Hamas attacked Israeli territory on September 7, killing and kidnapping civilians: “destroy the infrastructure of the Hamas terrorist group” and ” eliminate the entire organization.”

Another of the critical points of carrying out this offensive is that Hamas continues to have more than 200 Israeli hostages.. The families of the kidnapped people could be delaying the military entry and the Army fears that the attempt to free them will stop the incursion. This Monday, several US media outlets claim that Netanyahu has stopped the operation at the request of Joe Biden. The US president would have asked him to first release hostages and allow more humanitarian aid to enter.. In fact, this Monday the second release of hostages in more than two weeks of conflict was announced.. According to Hamas, two people have been released thanks to the mediation of Egypt and Qatar citing “humanitarian and health reasons.”

For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said this Monday that Israeli soldiers are preparing for “the next step”, which will be “a multilateral operation by land, sea and air.”. Furthermore, the minister has asked that there be no speculation about internal friction and has assured that there is “total and mutual trust” between Netanyahu and the senior military commanders.

Death toll in Gaza could exceed 5,000

As Israel debates whether to enter, airstrikes continue. According to Hamas, which governs Gaza, at least 5,087 people have been killed by Israeli bombings, in retaliation for the Islamist group's attack that left some 1,400 dead and 222 kidnapped.. This Monday the Israeli Government presented more unpublished images of the Hamas attacks to a hundred international journalists.. These media (including Spanish) were able to observe new videos recorded by the terrorists themselves, by security cameras or by the victims of the massacre against civilians.. At the moment the 43-minute footage has not been made public.

In Gaza, of the total number of deaths, 40% are children and 22% are women or the elderly, always according to the Gazan authorities, since there is not much international press on the ground due to Israel's blockade for journalists to enter. According to the Gaza Health spokesperson, the Israeli bombings of the last few hours have left more than 430 dead. In addition, the death toll due to the bombing carried out on Sunday night on the Jabalia refugee camp, located in the north of the Gaza Strip, has increased to 30. Added to the death toll are 15,273 injured people. and 1,500 who remain under the rubble.

The Israeli Army acknowledged this Monday that during the last 24 hours it attacked more than 320 targets of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.. Israel has also informed the press that its troops have attacked militants from within the Palestinian enclave itself, in an area adjacent to the fence in which they have been operating for days.

Since the beginning of the war, tension has also intensified in the occupied West Bank, where at least 95 Palestinians have died after clashes with Palestinian forces.. At least two have died and four others have been injured this Monday in clashes with the Israeli Army in the Jalazone refugee camp. Since October 7, more than 800 Palestinians have been detained in this region accused of being Hamas militants.

A third humanitarian aid convoy enters

Regarding the humanitarian situation, this Monday there was the third entry of aid through Egypt. A third convoy consisting of twenty trucks entered from the Rafah crossing. The trucks transport medicines, medical supplies and baby formula, an Egyptian security source told the EFE agency.

This Monday the Egyptian authorities did not allow media access to the Rafah crossing. This came after Israel shot and wounded some Egyptian border guards on Sunday.. Israel assured that it was “a mistake” that it is investigating. The Sinai Peninsula is a region that has been militarized for years due to the presence of terrorist groups and Cairo does not allow the international press to enter some areas.

The arrival of this aid is essential for Gaza, which has been blocked for two weeks. This Monday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has assured that the main hospital center in Gaza, the Shifa Hospital, is “on the verge of collapse”, as well as other health facilities due to the lack of electricity, medicines, equipment and personal. Shifa currently treats about 5,000 patients, when its theoretical capacity is 700, to which must be added the 45,000 internally displaced people sheltered in the facilities.. International organizations recognize that the aid that is arriving helps, but it is still insufficient.