Father of American teenage hostage freed by Hamas says she is ‘doing very good’
The Israeli military has vowed to intensify its attacks on the Gaza Strip after the enclave’s health ministry said 266 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours.
Israeli Defence Forces spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the country planned to step up its airstrikes starting Saturday as they prepare for an imminent ground invasion of the territory.
“We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today,” Hagari said.
It comes as Gaza’s Health Ministry said 266 Palestinians, including 117 children, had been killed by Israeli air strikes over the past day in the enclave, to which Israel laid “total siege” after a deadly mass infiltration into Israel by Hamas gunmen on 7 October.
Meanwhile, a second humanitarian aid convoy of around 19 trucks is set to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing, security and humanitarian sources have said. On Saturday, the 20 trucks that arrived in the Strip were the first allowed into the territory since Israel sealed it off.
But the UN humanitarian office said the volume of aid entering so far was just 4 per cent of the daily average before the hostilities and a fraction of what was needed with food, water, medicines and fuel stocks running out.
