The war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas raged for a fifth day on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, as Israeli warplanes hammered neighbourhood after neighbourhood in the Gaza Strip, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety.
Israel Defence Forces Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said on Wednesday that 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 2,700 wounded.
About 300,000 IDF soldiers have been deployed at the Gaza border, Colonel Conricus said, and they would ensure that Hamas will not have any military capabilities at the end of the war.
Israel has stopped the entry of food, fuel and medicines into Gaza in response to Hamas' bloody incursion into Israel on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
The sole remaining access from Egypt shut down on Tuesday after airstrikes hit the border crossing.
As Israeli airstrikes continued nonstop in the Karama district north of Gaza city, many dead and injured are stuck under rubble that Gaza lacks the equipment to handle, officials said on Wednesday.
With streets badly damaged and the ongoing and intense nature of the airstrikes, ambulances and civil defence teams are unable to approach areas where people were reported trapped under crumbled infrastructure.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday said the IDF is moving to 'full offence' against Hamas.
IMAGE: Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters
IMAGE: Palestinians inspect the damage in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
IMAGE: An Israeli soldier at the entrance to Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
IMAGE: Colleagues of Palestinian journalists Mohammed Soboh and Saeed al-Taweel, who were killed when an Israeli missile hit a building while they were outside reporting, stand next to their bodies at a hospital in Gaza City, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Arafat Barbakh/Reuters
IMAGE: Israeli soldiers walk through the remains of a residential area of Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
IMAGE: An Israeli medical military vehicle in northern Israel, October 10, 2023, as tension mounts between Lebanon and Israel. Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters
IMAGE: A Jewish man takes cover in Ashkelon, southern Israel, October 10, 2023, while sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters
IMAGE: Israeli soldiers gather in Ashkelon, southern Israel, October 10, 2023after the alert of an apparent security incident. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters
IMAGE: An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
IMAGE: People take shelter in a building stairway in Ashkelon, southern Israel, October 10, 2023 as sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
