The Israeli military said Thursday it had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. While Israel says it is striking Hamas targets, many civilians in the pounded strip have been killed. Hospitals and U.N. shelters have also been hit. A former Israeli defense official told the Associated Press Thursday that Israel should continue bombarding Gaza for as long as militants remain in the territory, even if it incurs massive casualties to Israeli soldiers. Yaakov Amidror, a retired General and senior fellow at JINSA, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said that Israel would “bomb any attempt to build military capability in the in the Gaza Strip for the next hundred years,” raising the specter of an unending military engagement in Gaza. “We need to crush Hamas to ashes, no matter how many casualties,” Amidror said. “Of course, we will give all means to our soldiers to defend themselves. but I don’t think casualties are the main element in decision-making.”
Here’s what’s happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war, according to the Associated Press:
Israel says it dropped 6000 bombs on Gaza since war started
Newslooks- (AP)
FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE OFFICIAL SAYS BOMBARDMENT OF GAZA SHOULD CONTINUE UNTIL HAMAS IS ‘ASHES’
JERUSALEM — A former Israeli defense official told the Associated Press Thursday that Israel should continue bombarding Gaza for as long as militants remain in the territory, even if it incurs massive casualties to Israeli soldiers.
Yaakov Amidror, a retired General and senior fellow at JINSA, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said that Israel would “bomb any attempt to build military capability in the in the Gaza Strip for the next hundred years,” raising the specter of an unending military engagement in Gaza.
“We need to crush Hamas to ashes, no matter how many casualties,” Amidror said. “Of course, we will give all means to our soldiers to defend themselves. but I don’t think casualties are the main element in decision-making.”
FAMILIES OF MISSING FRENCH-ISRAELI CITIZENS ASK MACRON FOR INFORMATION ABOUT EFFORTS TO FIND THEM
TEL AVIV — Struggling to speak as they sobbed or choked back tears, families of French-Israeli citizens missing since the Hamas attack began last weekend appealed Thursday for information about their whereabouts and for efforts to bring them back.
“We don’t know if she is dead, if she is in Gaza. We don’t know anything. We haven’t heard anything,’’ Doron Journo, whose 24-year-old daughter Karin Journo disappeared Saturday, said at a news conference in Tel Aviv.
Karin’s sister appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron, saying, ‘’I want my country back. I want my sister back.’’
Batsheva Yahalomi described being kidnapped by militants on motorbikes along with her baby and 12-year-old son Eitan. She and the baby escaped, but she hasn’t seen Eitan since.
Ido Nagar held his 6-month-old child as he pleaded for information about his wife, Celine Ben-David Nagar, 32, who had also been at the music festival. ‘’Bring my wife back to her daughter.’’
ISRAEL MILITARY SAYS IT HAS DROPPED 6,000 BOMBS ON GAZA SINCE START OF WAR
The Israeli military said Thursday it had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. While Israel says it is striking Hamas targets, many civilians in the pounded strip have been killed. Hospitals and U.N. shelters have also been hit.
The airstrikes have also killed entire families in their homes. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Thursday that 22 entire families had been killed. An airstrike in the northern city of Jabalia Thursday killed 44 members of the same family, leaving just six survivors.
HAMAS OFFICIAL WARNS AGAINST GROUND INVASION, SAYS IT WOULD BE DISASTER FOR THE ISRAELI MILITARY
JERUSALEM — A high ranking Hamas official warned Thursday that any Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip will prove catastrophic for the Israeli army.
“For every action the enemy takes, there is a plan we have,” said Saleh Al-Arouri, the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas.
Israeli defense officials have yet to order a ground invasion of the pummeled territory, but have been planning for the possibility of it. The military has called over 300,000 reservists into action in preparation.
PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ABBAS CALLS FOR END OF VIOLENCE TOWARDS CIVILIANS ON GAZA STRIP
JERUSALEM — In a meeting with the King of Jordan Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave tempered remarks calling for the end of aggression toward Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian state media reported, as Israeli airstrikes pummeled the besieged strip.
“We reject the practices of killing civilians or abusing them on both sides,” said Abbas, who is the head of Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
In 2007, Hamas violently seized Gaza from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.
HUNDREDS GATHER IN ROMANIA’S CAPITAL IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL
BUCHAREST, Romania — Several hundred people gathered for a rally in Romania’s capital on Thursday to pledge their support for Israel in what its embassy called the country’s “fight against terrorism.”
Held at a central Bucharest park, many attendees waved Israeli flags and some brandished signs that read: “We stand with Israel.”
Israel’s ambassador to Romania, Reuven Azar, told reporters there that “we are going to tackle this evil, because without tackling this evil, we are all in danger.”
“We are now in a very difficult moment in our history. We’ve been attacked by one of the most ferocious, barbaric, savage forces in the world that is killing innocent civilians, families, babies, children, taking hostages, (and) burning people alive,” he said. “It’s a kind of savagery that we haven’t seen before.”
US DEFENSE SECRETARY SAYS ISRAEL CAN USE AMERICAN-PROVIDED MUNITIONS AS IT SEES FIT
BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that the U.S. is placing no specific conditions on how Israel uses the American-provided munitions. Israel has a professional military and “we would hope and expect that they would do the right things,” he told reporters at the close of the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels.
He was asked if the U.S. would put conditions on the weapon, specifically that they would not be used against civilians. Austin said he would leave it to the Israelis to define their operations.
Austin also said that the U.S. is working to provide Israel whatever it needs, even as America continues to support Ukraine. “The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
AID CHIEF CALLS FOR ESTABLISHING DEMILITARIZED ZONES IN GAZA
Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland has called for establishing demilitarized zones in Gaza amid unrelenting bombardment by Israel following last weekend’s unprecedented attack by Hamas.
Writing Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Egeland said urgent life-saving support is needed for civilians trapped in Gaza.
“The siege must be lifted,” he wrote. “Defined, safe, and demilitarised zones within Gaza itself must be established & respected by all parties.”
Egeland also called for the international community to facilitate a deal to release all civilians held by both sides, “with immediate release of children, mothers with infants, the wounded & sick.”
ISRAEL’S MILITARY CHIEF ADMITS FAILURE TO PROTECT CITIZENS AROUND THE GAZA STRIP
JERUSALEM — The chief of staff for Israel’s military, Herzi Halevi, admitted Thursday that the military had failed to protect civilians around the Gaza Strip from Hamas’s unprecedented attack on the country.
“The IDF is responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not,” Halevi said. “We will learn, we will investigate, but now is the time for war.”
BLINKEN TO VISIT QATAR ON FRIDAY
TEL AVIV, Israel — After visiting Israel and Jordan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel on Friday to Doha where he will have talks with senior Qatari officials.
Qatar has ties with Hamas and has in the past served as facilitator in discussions to calm tensions in and around Gaza.
GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHOLZ MEETS WITH EMIR OF QATAR, DISCUSSES FATE OF HOSTAGES
BERLIN – The German government says Chancellor Olaf Scholz has discussed the fate of hostages taken by Hamas with the emir of Qatar.
The emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was in Berlin on Thursday for a previously scheduled visit. Qatar has been a mediator in the past.
Scholz’s office said the German leader underlined Berlin’s condemnation of Hamas’ attack and Israel’s right to defend itself. It said he stressed that “Hamas has full responsibility for the well-being of the hostages” and called for them to be released “as quickly as possible.”
The statement said Scholz “recognized in this context Qatar’s humanitarian effort” and the two leaders agreed to remain in close contact on the issue.
The hostages include several German-Israeli dual citizens, but Germany hasn’t given a precise figure.
HEALTH FACILITIES DAMAGED AND 10 HEALTH CARE WORKERS KILLED IN GAZA
JERUSALEM — Fourteen health facilities have been damaged and 10 health care workers killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Palestinian health officials said Thursday.
OFFICIALS SAYS MORE THAN 1,400 PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE GAZA STRIP
JERUSALEM — At least 1,417 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and over 6,200 have been injured since the Israel-Hamas war began, Palestinian health officials said Thursday.
Of the dead, nearly 450 are children and 250 are women.
The war has claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides since Hamas launched its attack on Israel last Saturday.
BLINKEN MEETS WITH ISRAELI PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG
TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Blinken offered a statement with Herzog that touched on the same themes as his earlier statement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“There really are two paths before countries in this region and in many ways, countries in this world. But here in the Middle East, there’s the path of integration, cooperation, normalization and equal measures of justice, opportunity, dignity for all peoples, including the Palestinians,” Blinken said.
He added: “Or there’s the path that Hamas has shown to the world these last few days — terror, destruction, nihilism, a path that leads to nowhere for anyone except to the darkest places in our souls.”
ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS BODIES OF 222 SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED
JERUSALEM — Every Israeli soldier killed by Hamas militants so far in the latest Israel-Palestinian war has been identified, the Israeli military confirmed Thursday.
A total of 222 Israeli soldiers have died and their families have all been notified, a spokesperson for the military said.
IRAQI PRIME MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT IS WORKING WITH EGYPT TO SEND AID TO GAZA
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he has ordered the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the Gaza enclave, currently under siege by Israeli forces.
He said coordination with Egyptian authorities is underway to ensure the safe and prompt delivery of the aid, including medical supplies, to Gaza.
FRENCH DEATH TOLL IN LATEST GAZA WAR RISES TO 12
PARIS — The death toll among French citizens in the Hamas militant attacks in Israel has risen to 12, with 16 others missing, France’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
An evacuation flight bringing French citizens to Paris is expected later Thursday and others are planned in the coming days, officials said.
