International Israel Goes Crazy! ‘Flatten’ Gaza-Bombardment of Lebanon and Syria News – 1 hour ago

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was preparing a ground invasion of Gaza, as Israeli shelling killed more Palestinian civilians and international pressure mounted to provide aid and protect hostages held by Hamas.

Netanyahu said a decision on when troops would enter Gaza would be taken by the government’s special war cabinet, but he declined to provide details on timing or other information about the operation.

“We have killed thousands of terrorists and this is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said in a televised and quoted statement ReutersThursday (26/10/2023).


“At the same time, we were preparing for a land invasion. I will not explain when, how and how much. I will also not explain the various calculations we did, most of which are unknown to the public and that is the way it should be.”

Israeli tanks and troops gathered on the border with Gaza awaiting orders. Israel has called up some 360,000 reservists.

International pressure is increasing to postpone any invasion of Gaza, one of which is because of the hostages. More than half of the approximately 220 hostages held by Hamas have foreign passports from 25 different countries.

The Wall Street Journalciting American and Israeli officials, reported that Israel had agreed to postpone its invasion of Gaza for now so that the United States could deploy missile defenses to the territory to protect American forces there, reflecting its concerns about the Gaza war spreading across the region the.

US officials have so far persuaded Israel to postpone the attack until US air defense systems can be deployed in the region, as early as this week.

When asked about the report, US officials told Reuters that Washington has expressed concerns to Israel that Iran and Iran-backed Islamist groups could escalate the conflict by attacking US forces in the Middle East. An Israeli attack on Gaza could be a trigger for Iranian proxies, they said.

Biden opens his voice

US President Joe Biden, in remarks that addressed more than just the war that followed attacks on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants on October 7, said the future must include a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel must integrate with its Arab neighbors, he said.

“Israel and Palestine both have the right to live side by side in security, dignity and peace,” Biden said at a joint press conference in Washington with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Biden said he believed one of the reasons Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages from various countries, was to prevent the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Israeli counterattacks have killed more than 6,500 people, the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled region said on Wednesday.

Biden said he had no idea that the Palestinians were telling the truth about how many people were killed. “I believe innocent people have been killed, and that is the price of war.”

Meanwhile, at the UN, Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution drafted by the US calling for a cessation of hostilities so that urgently needed food, water and medicine could be delivered to Palestinian civilians. The United Arab Emirates also voted no, while 10 members voted in favor and two abstained.

Russia submitted a counterproposal advocating a broader ceasefire, but failed to gain the minimum number of votes. Israel rejected both, arguing that Hamas would only take advantage and create new threats against Gaza civilians.

Limited deliveries of food, medicine and water from Egypt resumed on Saturday via Rafah, the only crossing not controlled by Israel.

Middle East Heats Up

As Israel stepped up bombardment of southern Gaza, violence flared elsewhere in the Middle East and a row emerged at the UN over aid to Palestinian civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom fled north to south in the tiny coastal strip.

Israel has warned them that it will bombard the north to wipe out Hamas militants.

Among the casualties on Wednesday, one refugee was killed and 44 others were injured in an airstrike near a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school in the southern city of Rafah. The school accommodates 4,600 people and suffered extensive damage.

The Israel-Hamas war has also triggered an increase in conflict outside Gaza.

Israeli warplanes attacked Syrian army infrastructure in response to rockets fired from Syria, Iran’s ally.

Syrian state media said Israel had killed eight soldiers and wounded seven others near the city of Deraa in the southwest, and attacked Aleppo’s airport in the northwest, which was no longer operational.

Israel has not accused the Syrian army of launching rockets but is suspicious of Iran, its arch enemy which has a significant military and security presence in Syria.

Iran has sought regional power for decades and supports armed groups in Syria, Lebanon and other countries as well as Hamas. They demanded that Israel stop its attacks on Gaza.

Israel said its forces also attacked five teams in southern Lebanon to prepare for an attack. The Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group says 42 of its fighters have been killed since border clashes with Israel resumed after the Gaza war broke out.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

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Hamas vs Israel War Goes Crazy: Gaza Sieges, 1,500 Killed

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