Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says he has ordered a “total siege” of the Gaza Strip: “No electricity, no food, no fuel.”
As a reminder, Israel controls the airspace over Gaza and its coast and limits who and what goods it allows to enter and exit through its border crossings.
Israel formally declared war on Sunday, predicting more clashes and a possible ground offensive after a surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday, including a barrage of rocket fire on the south and central parts of the country and sending armed extremists across the border. More than 1,200 people have been killed since the attack began, about 700 in Israel and nearly 500 in Gaza, a small, impoverished enclave of 2.3 million people that borders the Jewish state and Egypt, according to the Al Jazeera.
Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized control of the territory by force from rival, more moderate Fatah in 2007.
Amid the escalation of conflict between Israeli and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip, 123,538 Palestinians have been displaced, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced. The Israeli military also said that between 800 and 1,000 armed Palestinian fighters have infiltrated Israel from Gaza since October 7 and that they have entered more than 80 points from the border and entered 20 settlements and 11 military bases.
At the same time, the Palestinian Ministry of Interior announced that Israeli forces “intensified their aggression” on Gaza with hundreds of attacks.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Monday that over the past two days, 74,000 Palestinians who fled their homes due to Israeli bombardment have been cared for in its schools in Gaza.
