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JERUSALEM: Israel on Wednesday kept up its bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, as Benjamin Netanyahu and a political rival announced an emergency government for the duration of the current conflict, which has already claimed thousands of lives.
The Israeli PM and centrist Benny Gantz, a former defence minister, agreed to form a government and war cabinet as both put aside bitter political divisions as Tel Aviv prepares to unleash a brutal ground assault that would reduce Gaza to a “tent city”, according to claims by Israeli officials.
The three-member “war cabinet” would include Netanyahu, Gantz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Although it appears to be readying for a ground invasion of Gaza, Israel still faces the threat of a multi-front war after also coming under rocket attack from groups in neighbouring Lebanon and Syria.
At the same time, concern is mounting over the worsening humanitarian crisis in war-torn Gaza, where Israel had levelled over 1,000 buildings and imposed a total siege, cutting off water, food and energy supplies for 2.3 million people.
Gaza officials have reported more than 1,100 people killed and over 5,000 wounded in Israel’s campaign of air and artillery strikes on the crowded Palestinian enclave, while the only power plant in the strip has shut down after it ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
More than 260,000 Gaza residents have been forced from their homes, a UN aid agency said.
Meanwhile, in addition, Israeli security forces have killed at least 27 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since Saturday.
By Wednesday, military checkpoints remained closed and roads in several parts of the West Bank were blocked with mounds of dirt, restricting movement.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited governance in the occupied West Bank, is led by the Fatah faction, a rival to Hamas.
Frantic diplomacy
Meanwhile, frantic diplomacy continues as international and regional powers seek to prevent a wider conflagration in the Middle East.
On Wednesday, Arab foreign ministers concluded an emergency meeting in Cairo by affirming the importance of Israel’s fulfilment of the international law obligations as an occupying power for the Palestinians.
For its part, the US has diverted an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also heading to Israel on a ‘solidarity mission’. Separately, US aircraft have delivered “advanced armaments” to southern Israel’s Nevatim Airbase, the Israeli army said.
On the other hand, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “shameful methods”, including “bombing civilian sites, killing civilians, blocking humanitarian aid”.
With Ankara offering to mediate, Erdogan and his foreign minister held calls with regional powers, the US and others. However, Israel’s envoy to Ankara has said it is too early to discuss mediation.
Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023