Aid deliveries have begun moving into the besieged Gaza Strip, two weeks after the militant group Hamas rampaged through southern Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes, reports UNB.
Israel says Hamas has freed two American hostages who had been held in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7. Israeli airstrikes continued to hit southern Gaza, an area swollen by civilians who fled there from the north on Israeli instructions. Israel’s military spokesman said the country planned to step up its attacks starting Saturday as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas.
The war, which is in its 15th day on Saturday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that the death toll has reached 4,385, while 13,561 people have been wounded.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel. In addition, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, the Israeli military has said.
Currently:
1. Egypt is hosting dozens of regional leaders and senior Western officials for a summit on the war.
2. The father of freed American teenage hostage Natalie Raanan says she’s doing well after her release by Hamas.
3. Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are marching in London and other cities.
4. A tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza reawakens old traumas.
5. The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
