IDF POUNDING GAZA TO RUBBLE — 1.5K Hamas, 900 Israelis killed
Three Palestinian journalists were killed in the fighting, with two photographers reported missing since Saturday
Daily TribuneThree Palestinian journalists were killed in the fighting, with two photographers reported missing since Saturday
Children of the Palestinian community living in Chile, with their hands painted in red, express themselves against Israel's military operations in Gaza, at the Palestine Club in Santiago on October 9, 2023. Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip and cut off the water supply in response to the October 7 shock deadly attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by Martin BERNETTI / AFP)
Israel maintained its lethal bombardment of Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday after the Palestinian militant group threatened to execute some of the approximately 150 hostages it kidnapped in a weekend assault if the air strikes continued.
On Monday, Israel unleashed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, water, and electricity, raising fears that an already dire humanitarian situation will deteriorate rapidly.
Hamas' unprecedented ground, air, and sea assault last Saturday has left Israel reeling, eerily similar to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, some said.
The death toll in Israel has risen to over 900, with the nation retaliating with a barrage of strikes on Gaza, raising the death toll there to 687. The bodies of about 1,500 Hamas militants were found inside Israel.
Fireballs repeatedly lit up Gaza City before dawn on Tuesday as explosions sounded and sirens wailed. Hamas said Monday that Israeli air strikes had killed four of the hostages. It later said it could start killing them itself.
"Every targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages," Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.
Pinoys far from conflict
In Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that roughly 95 percent of the 30,500 Filipinos in Israel are located far from the conflict area in the south.
"Our kababayans are mostly in the north and nobody from the Filipino community there expressed the wish to be repatriated," said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega in a press conference.
The Philippine government, however, said on Monday at least seven Filipinos have gone missing. There were no reports on Tuesday on the status of the seven.
De Vega said that in Gaza, 38 of 137 Filipino women married to Palestinians had asked to be sent back to the Philippines. But repatriating them, he added, would be difficult because the sea ports and airports are closed.
"There are exit points through Israel and Egypt but they are heavily guarded. Measures are being taken (to bring the trapped Filipinos home)," De Vega said.
'Swords of Iron'
Hamas launched more rockets as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where the missile defense systems fired and air raid sirens blared. Israel said it had called up 300,000 army reservists for its "Swords of Iron" campaign.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would impose a "complete siege" on Gaza, the long-blockaded enclave of 2.3 million people: "No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it's all closed."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply distressed" by the siege announcement and warned Gaza's already dire humanitarian situation will now "only deteriorate exponentially."
Gaza blockade
Washington, which moved its biggest aircraft carrier and other warships closer to Israel in a show of support, has said it has no plans to put US boots on the ground but is working with its ally on hostage recovery efforts.
Hamas's attack penetrated the Gaza border fence — long deemed impregnable and guarded by surveillance cameras, drones, patrols and watchtowers.
More than 270 bodies, mostly of young people, were strewn across the site of a music festival in a Negev desert kibbutz, while other revelers were feared to be among the captives taken into Gaza.
Three Palestinian journalists have been killed in the fighting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday, with two photographers reported missing since Saturday.
Israel has blockaded Gaza since Hamas took control in 2007, leading to four previous wars. The spiraling conflict has been felt globally, with oil prices surging on fears of tightening supplies.
US energy firm Chevron said it suspended operations at a natural gas platform off Israel's coast at the request of authorities.
Dozens of foreigners have also been killed, injured or taken hostage. Many of the missing foreigners were at the music festival in the desert where scores of revelers were massacred.
Eighteen Thais have been killed, nine have been wounded and 11 have been taken captive, Thailand foreign affairs officials said Tuesday.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jakkapong Sangmanee said about 5,000 Thai nationals had been evacuated from high-risk areas, and "more than 3,000 people (are) asking to return to Thailand."
The United States on Monday confirmed the deaths of at least 11 US citizens and said it was "likely" that Americans were among the hostages being held by Hamas.
"Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed — many of whom had made a second home in Israel," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Ten Nepalese citizens were killed in Kibbutz Alumim, one of the flashpoints of the Hamas assault, the Himalayan republic's embassy in Tel Aviv said on Sunday.
Four others were being treated in hospital while a search was under way for a fifth person, the embassy added. Kibbutz Alumim was hosting 17 Nepalese students at the time of the attack.
Ukrainians killed
Argentina's foreign ministry confirmed that seven of the country's nationals were killed and 15 others were missing.
Two Ukrainian women who had been living in Israel for years were also killed, Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Sunday.
Two French people have been killed in "Hamas's terrorist attacks against Israel," the French government said.
A 12-year-old is among 14 of its nationals missing, the French foreign ministry said, calling the situation "worrying."
"Based on the information we have, we consider it highly likely that some of them have been abducted," the ministry said in a statement, adding that "this number is still subject to change."
At least one Russian has been killed and four others are missing, the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv said on Monday, according to Russian news agencies.
Israel's ambassador to Britain said there was one 26-year-old British citizen missing, without naming the person.
A British man who was serving in the Israeli army, Nathanel Young, 20, died in the fighting with Hamas, his family said on Sunday.
WITH GILMORE LEAÑO
