Key Points
- Israel published pictures of battle tanks in Gaza on Sunday.
- Israel's self-declared "second phase" of the war against Hamas militants had initially been kept from public view.
- Meanwhile, impeding relief supplies to Gaza's population may constitute a crime, the ICC says.
Israel signalled on Sunday, publishing pictures of battle tanks on the Palestinian enclave's western coast
" of a three-week war againsthad initially been kept from public view, with forces moving under darkness and a telecommunications blackout cutting off Palestinians.
appeared to be easing on Sunday, according to Gaza residents. But they have severely hampered rescue operations for casualties of Israeli barrages wreaking destruction, especially on northern Gaza City, site of Hamas' government and command centres.
Meanwhile, impeding relief supplies to Gaza's population may constitute a crime under the International Criminal Court's (ICC) jurisdiction, the court's top prosecutor told a news conference in Egypt on Sunday.
Karim Khan also said Israel must make "discernable efforts, without further delay to make sure civilians receive basic foods, medicine".
Palestinians wait to buy bread during the ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Rafah. Source: AAP / Hatem Ali/AP
Israeli officials have said that food, water and medicines have been coming in through the Egyptian border and that it expected the quantities to rise.
United Nations officials have said the aid supplies are limited and do not correspond to the huge need on the ground.
In an unannounced visit, the ICC prosecutor went to the between Egypt and Gaza earlier in the day and posted a video statement from his location on X social media.
Russian airport stormed
Hundreds of people have stormed into the main airport in Russia's Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner from Tel Aviv, Israel and Russian news agencies reported.
Authorities closed the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, and police converged on the facility.
In a statement released, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel "expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis."
Hamas says it's fighting back
Hamas said it was firing mortars against Israeli forces in north Gaza and had hit Israeli tanks with missiles, belittling reports of deep advances by its enemy.
Palestinians walk about buildings destroyed in the Israeli bombardment in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Source: AAP / Hatem Moussa/AP
Ahmed said he only found out on Sunday that his cousin had died in an airstrike two days previously due to the blackout.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fighter jets struck over 450 Hamas targets, including operational command centres, look-out posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts, in the last 24 hours, the military said on Sunday.
It said several gunmen emerged from a tunnel near Israel's border and were killed or wounded in a clash with troops.
"We are gradually expanding the ground activity and the scope of our forces in the Gaza Strip," said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
Western countries have generally backed what they say is Israel's right to self-defence. But there has been mounting international outcry for a "humanitarian pause" to allow aid in.
Friends and relatives of Yonat Or cry next to her grave during her funeral at Kibbutz Palmachim, Israel. Or was killed by Hamas militants on 7 October, in Kibbutz Be'eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. Source: AAP / Ariel Schalit/AP
Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million people, said on Sunday 8,005 people - including 3,324 minors - had been killed.
The Hamas-run Gaza government's media office said 116 medics and 35 journalists have been killed since the conflict erupted.
Reuters was unable to independently verify.
With supplies of food, water and medicines running low and thousands of residents and distribution centres of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), grabbing flour and other basics, the organisation said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday 10 Egyptian trucks carrying food and medicine had arrived in Gaza via the Rafah crossing, bringing the total number so far to 94, a small fraction of what is needed.
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in central Israel. Source: AAP / Oded Balilty/AP
Displaced Palestinians begging for mercy
Displaced Palestinians staying in tents in Gaza’s Khan Younis described dire living conditions, with little access to food and water and having to queue hours for the toilet.
"I wish God will have mercy on us and the war stops," said Rami Al-Erqan, a father cradling his daughter, one of his six children. "We reached a state where we wish to have died under the rubble just to find some rest. Our life is torture."
Central Israel also came under heavy rocket fire on Sunday, with sirens sounding in several major cities.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it was bombing Tel Aviv. They later said their fighters had clashed with Israeli forces northwest of Gaza and had also set fire to two Israeli tanks. There was no word from Israel on the claims.
The conflict has prompted large demonstrations worldwide in support of the Palestinians. On Sunday several thousand people rallied in Beirut to show solidarity with Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip, adding that raids conducted on Sunday had taken place just 50 metres from the facility.
The Red Crescent says some 14,000 people have sought shelter at the hospital. Israel has accused Hamas of locating command centres and other military infrastructure in Gaza hospitals, something the group denies.
Palestinian officials said around 50,000 people had also taken shelter in the Gaza Shifa Hospital and said they were concerned about ongoing Israeli threats to the facility.
The significant escalation is the latest in a long-standing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas’s stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
The UN though did not condemn Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation, due to insufficient support from member states to do so during a 2018 vote.
