Israel Hamas War Live: 4000 deaths so far in Israel-Hamas war, India’s ‘Operation Ajay’ starts late tonight
New Delhi: The Israeli army has said that it is preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza, but the country’s leaders have not yet taken any decision in this regard. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters on Thursday that forces were ‘preparing for a ground operation.’ Israel has called up about 360,000 reserve troops and warned of fierce action in retaliation for deadly attacks by Hamas over the weekend. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Israel will ‘crush and destroy’ Hamas.
Netanyahu said that every member of Hamas is now ‘dead’. Netanyahu said this in his televised address late Wednesday night. He said this while Israeli planes were moving towards Gaza after the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a top opposition leader on Wednesday reached an agreement to form a wartime unity government to oversee the war against Palestinian militant group Hamas. Hamas had suddenly attacked Israel last Saturday, after which Israel declared war.
More than 4000 people have lost their lives so far amid the intensifying war. There is immense pressure on the Israeli government to eliminate Hamas terrorists. In his address, Netanyahu described the atrocities inflicted on the people. “We saw boys and girls tied up, their heads had been shot,” he said. Men and women were burnt alive. Young women were raped and then murdered. The soldiers were beheaded. Terrorists in Gaza have taken hostage at least 150 Israeli people, including soldiers, men, women, children and elderly people. Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at Israel in the last five days.
The cabinet of the new unity government will focus only on war issues and will be led by Netanyahu, senior opposition leader and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz and current Defense Minister Yoav Galant. The former chief of staff and another government minister have been nominated as ‘observer’ members. Main opposition leader Yair Lapid has also been invited to join the new cabinet but no reply has been received from him yet. Israel is continuously carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, due to which many areas are being turned into debris and people are wandering in search of safe places, while hospitals are running out of essential medicines. At the same time, due to exhaustion of fuel, Gaza’s only power plant had to be closed, which further increased the problems of the people.
India on Wednesday launched a special operation, ‘Operation Ajay’, to bring back its citizens from Israel. According to estimates, currently around 18,000 Indians are in Israel. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted on the social media platform ‘X’, ‘We are launching ‘Operation Ajay’ for the return of our citizens who wish to return from Israel.’ He is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka. He said, ‘Arrangements for special charter flights and other arrangements are being made. We are fully committed to the safety and welfare of our citizens abroad. The first batch of Indians is expected to be brought back from Israel in a special flight on Thursday.
