Monday morning, October 9, dawned gray and dusty over Gaza. Israeli bombing began on the afternoon of Saturday, October 7, and hit the enclave indiscriminately, then intensified on Sunday night, particularly in the north and east. According to the Hamas TV channel Al-Aqsa, rescue workers were struggling to reach the wounded in Beit Hanoun, at the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip, as some streets had been destroyed.
Following the shock attack by militants on Israeli territory on Saturday morning, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to "reduce anywhere Hamas is based to rubble." By Sunday evening, the Palestinian Red Crescent had given a provisional death toll of 465 Gazans, including 78 children and 46 women.
"At first, it was just like any other escalation," said 38-year-old Mohammed Saidam, who is holed up with his family in his apartment in central Gaza. "Then it became terrifying. We could hear the explosions close by, the walls vibrated like an earthquake, we couldn't sleep, we were on edge at every sound." Saidam, an international relations researcher, was speaking to Le Monde over the phone: Since Saturday, no foreigners have been allowed to enter the enclave, which has been under blockade for more than 16 years.
Israel has suspended gas and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip and closed the goods crossing. It is bombing areas not covered by foreign cameras – as it did in 2009, May 2021, August 2022 and again at the beginning of May, during the last "escalation" – and has targeted the homes of almost all members of the Hamas political bureau, including the movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinouar. Some 20 high-rise buildings, mosques, banks and residential blocks were destroyed in this enclave of 2.3 million people, which has one of the highest population densities in the world. "The situation at the hospital is painful. Many bodies were coming out of the morgue," said Belal Aldabbour, a lecturer in neurology.
The Israeli army struck with fighter jets and drones, and also from the sea. Local sources in Gaza report the use of phosphorus bombs. On numerous occasions, Israeli planes bombed without warning. On Saturday night, 18 members of the Shabat family were killed in a bombing raid in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, while 12 members of the Kouta family perished under the rubble of their house. On Sunday evening and Monday morning, 19 members of the Abu Quta family and 19 people from the Abu Hilal family, including women and children, were killed in Rafah, in the south of Gaza.
You have 67.58% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.