Israeli tanks and military vehicles take position near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 13, 2023. (Reuters photo)
Israel-Hamas War Live Updates, Day 7 (October 13): The Israeli military said it had carried out “localised raids” inside the Gaza strip, even as the the death toll from Israeli strikes across Gaza has gone up to 1,799, while over 6,000 people have been injured, news agency Reuters quoted the Health Ministry as saying. Meanwhile, Israel’s military has amassed tanks ahead of a likely ground offensive, as it issued a clarion call to civilians of northern Gaza, which has a population of more than 1 million people, to relocate to south within 24 hours.
What is the ground situation? Hamas has told the residents not to leave their homes, even as Israel launched the heaviest air strikes on the region. After Israel’s warning, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman on Friday that he “rejects the forced displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza. Earlier, Hamas had said 13 hostages, including foreigners, were killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours.
What about Indians in the region? The first flight under ‘Operation Ajay’ landed in Delhi from Israel early Friday, with evacuated Indians, mostly students, praising the Indian Embassy’s smooth facilitation and coordination throughout the rescue efforts. The ‘Operation Ajay’ was launched by the Indian government on the sixth day (Thursday, October 12) of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war to repatriate Indians from Israel and Palestine through special chartered flights.
Live Blog
Israel-Hamas War News Live: Hamas launches 150 missiles at Israel as Tel Aviv tells Gaza city residents to evacuate; Hamas says 13 hostages, including foreigners, killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours; First flight under Operation Ajay lands in Delhi. Follow this space for all the latest updates from the ongoing Israel-Palestine war.
Occupied by the British in 1918 after the defeat of the Ottomans in the Great War, Gaza passed into Egyptian hands following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War at the end of the British Mandate for Palestine. An All-Palestine Government functioned as an Egyptian puppet regime, but that pretence ended in 1959 when it was dissolved by Gamal Abdel Nasser and Cairo’s military rulers seized control of the Strip. In June 1967, threatened by a coalition of Arab states, Israel launched preemptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields and military facilities. Its ground troops overran the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, seizing it from the Egyptians. It also took the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from the Jordanians and the Golan Heights from the Syrians. The Six-Day War ended in a decisive Israeli victory. The Yom Kippur War of October 1973, in which Israel again defeated the Arab coalition after being surprised on the Jewish holy day, was to shape the course of the present. There was realisation even in Israel that a state-of-war preparedness could not go on forever.
Also read:
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
First published on: 13-10-2023 at 09:00 IST
