Israel bombards southern Gaza as global leaders urge ceasefire

After one of the worst days for Palestinians since the conflict began, Israel’s military increased its bombing of southern Gaza overnight amid pleas from around the world for a ceasefire to allow aid enter the enclave and avert many more casualties. Health officials in Gaza reported on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had fled to the south after Israel threatened to bomb the north in an effort to eliminate Hamas militants who had gone on a killing rampage in Israel on October 7. Since then, thousands more people have died in the south. In Khan Younis, multiple residential complexes were destroyed by a single blow. “This is something not normal, we have not heard something like this before,” resident Khader Abu Odah said. A sense of treachery has added to Palestinian fury over the killings, since many of those who followed the directive to flee south are also dying. According to the Israeli military, Hamas, which governs Gaza, is well-established among all civilians. Israel said that during the previous day, strikes on Gaza had killed Hamas operatives, including Tayseer Bebasher, the commander of the Hamas brigade in southern Khan Younis. The IDF stated that they also targeted a group of Hamas divers attempting to enter Israel by sea near Kibbutz Zikim as well as tunnel shafts, command posts, weapons stores, and launch sites. Rescuers in Gaza City, in the north, pulled a seemingly deceased young child out of the debris before attempting to comfort an agitated, partially buried man crying out his family’s names. “They are OK, I swear,” one rescuer said in video footage from the scene. According to the Israeli military, Israeli jets reportedly attacked Syrian army installations in retaliation for rockets fired from Iran’s ally Syria. This has raised fears that Israel’s fight with Hamas, which is also supported by Iran, will spark unrest throughout the region. According to Syria’s official news agency, eight troops were killed and seven others were injured in an Israeli attack in the southwest city of Deraa. Israel did not name the suspected shooters of the two rockets that triggered air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights or accuse the Syrian army of shooting them. Iran, which has long aimed to dominate the region and supports Hamas as well as armed organisations in Lebanon, Syria, and other countries, has advised Israel to halt its assault on Gaza. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, reported the deaths of four more of its members, bringing the total number of casualties among its ranks since the start of the war to 42. (With agency inputs)