‘Dozens killed after nightly Israeli bombardments on Gaza Strip’
Bombings carried out by the Israeli army in the occupied Gaza Strip on Saturday night have killed dozens of Palestinians. According to international news agencies, Hamas reports 55 deaths, although that number is not specified NRC can be verified. On Saturday, Israel announced through an army spokesman that it would “step up” attacks on the Gaza Strip in order to thin out Hamas’s presence in the densely populated area as much as possible in preparation for a ground offensive.
Palestinian casualties also occurred in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, this time by an Israeli airstrike. According to Hamas, five Palestinians died there on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Israel carried out another airstrike on a mosque in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz with a fighter jet. According to Israel, the target was a bunker where Hamas and Islamic Jihad were preparing an attack. One Palestinian was killed.
:strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/liveblog/files/2023/10/israel-palestinian-gaza-conflict56837867.jpg|//images.nrc.nl/9qAsgDu2R22HH_wOwKrWLOp5wXk=/5760x/smart/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/liveblog/files/2023/10/israel-palestinian-gaza-conflict56837867.jpg)
Plumes of smoke above the Gaza Strip after nighttime bombardments by Israel. Photo Jack Guez/AFP
US increases military presence in Middle East with anti-aircraft systems
The United States will further strengthen its military presence in the Middle East. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has announced on Sunday that he is sending several anti-aircraft systems to the region. In addition, an unknown additional number of soldiers are being prepared for rapid deployment to the Middle East. Two years ago, the Biden administration removed anti-aircraft systems from the Middle East to cool the tense relationship with Iran.
Austin cites, among other things, “recent attacks on American troops” in the region as the reason for the reinforcements. Washington is on heightened alert for attacks by armed militias backed by Iran, Reuters news agency writes. Shortly after Hamas’s attacks on Israeli civilians, the US sent two aircraft carriers with 2,000 Marines to the eastern Mediterranean to convince enemy groups they would pay a high price for an attack on Israel or US forces.
/s3/static.nrc.nl/bvhw/files/2023/10/data106888999-dfda48.jpg)
Also read: Is Iran looking for escalation? ‘No one can stop these fighters’