People enter the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt on Nov 1, 2023. (PHOTO/AFP)
GAZA/JERUSALEM/RAFAH, Egypt – A first group of injured evacuees from the besieged Gaza Strip crossed into Egypt on Wednesday, Egyptian security sources said, as Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave.
Egypt received wounded Palestinians through the Rafah border crossing, the only linking point between Egypt and the enclave, according to a security source.
Five wounded were on their way to the Arish Hospital in North Sinai Governorate, the source told Xinhua on conditions of anonymity.
In the first batch, total 81 wounded were set to enter Egypt during the day.
Nearly 500 foreign passport holders will also cross into Egypt after entry of the wounded group, the source added.
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Forty ambulances passed through the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing in the morning to transfer the wounded Palestinians from the strip, the source said, adding that Egypt has allocated three areas in Arish and Shiekh Zuweid cities to host families of the wounded.
Eight Egyptian hospitals in North Sinai and Cairo are prepared to treat the wounded, he added.
Meanwhile, some 70 humanitarian aid trucks crossed Rafah en route to Gaza in the morning.
Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly visited the Rafah crossing and inspected the process of humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza.
People walk between posters of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza, in Jerusalem, Oct 29, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)
Release of hostages
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said on Tuesday that it is ready to release, within a few days, some hostages with foreign nationalities it is holding in Gaza.
"We informed the mediators officially that we will release a number of them in the coming days as we no longer need to detain them," Abu Obaida, spokesperson of the brigades, said in a brief recorded conference press, adding that "some countries intervened through mediators to free some detainees with foreign nationalities."
Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, firing thousands of rockets and seizing many hostages in Israeli territory. Israel says about 240 hostages are still in Gaza.
Hamas has released four hostages, including two Americans and two Israelis, in two separate moves aided by Qatari and Egyptian mediation. However, efforts to negotiate a larger hostage swap have stalled.
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Hamas has been asking Israel to free thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages. Israel has dismissed the demand, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that a ground offensive in Gaza may increase the chances of securing the hostages' release.
People walk between posters of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza, in Jerusalem, Oct 29, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)
The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 8,525, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also rejected calls for a ceasefire to facilitate the hostages' release. He faces growing pressure to free the hostages, as the Israeli army is conducting an intense offensive on the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas.
On Tuesday, Israel intensified its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, sending troops deep into the Palestinian territory and clashing with Hamas militants in fierce battles.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its soldiers had "fierce battles" with Hamas "deep in the Gaza Strip," adding that Israeli troops attacked hundreds of military targets of Hamas, including anti-tank missile and rocket launching posts below shafts and military compounds inside underground tunnels, and killed "numerous" Hamas militants.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed during a firefight in northern Gaza, the military said.
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Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, said its fighters confronted the Israeli troops in several locations, including the Al-Tawam area and Al-Karama neighborhood in northern Gaza.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said some Israeli army vehicles advanced toward al-Rasheed Street, apparently trying to cut off Gaza City and the north from the south.
Heavy Israeli bombardment continued in Gaza on Tuesday, hitting Jabalia, a densely populated refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Gaza-based Health Ministry said in a statement that more than 50 people were killed, approximately 150 others injured, and "dozens" of others under the rubble.
In this frame grab from video, Palestinians stand and others search for survivors and bodies following Israeli airstrikes at the Jabaliya refugee camp on Gaza City's outskirts, Oct 31, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)
The Arab League, Egypt, and Jordan have condemned the attacks on the refugee camp in separate statements.
Israeli fighter jets, acting on intelligence provided by the Shin Bet internal security agency, killed Ibrahim Biari, the commander of Hamas' Central Jabaliya Battalion. The Israeli military said Biari was one of the leaders responsible for the Hamas attacks on Oct 7, which killed at least 1,400 people in Israel.
IDF spokesman Richard Hecht confirmed the attack on Jabalia, adding that the death of civilians was a consequence of a "tragedy of war".
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The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 8,525, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Among the victims, 3,542 were children and 2,187 were women, ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qedra said in a press statement.
Meanwhile, rocket fired from Gaza continued on Tuesday, sending millions of Israelis to shelters. The Iron Dome system intercepted most of the projectiles, but several rockets hit towns in southern Israel, injuring four people, one seriously, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said.
In the north, Israel struck Hezbollah posts, targetting areas where mortar shells had been fired toward Israeli communities or militants trying to launch rockets.
A shell that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, on Oct 15, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)
Israel sends missile boats
Israel sent missile boats to the Red Sea, the army said on Wednesday after Houthi forces in Yemen fired missiles and drones toward Israel's resort city of Eilat.
"Israeli Navy missile boats arrived in the area of the Red Sea," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, noting the move was made following a "situational assessment and as part of defensive efforts in the area."
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IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a press briefing that overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, another "aerial threat" was detected in the Red Sea region, south of Eilat, after Houthi forces sent drones and a missile toward the city earlier Tuesday.
Hagari said although the drones and missiles did not pose an immediate threat to civilians because they were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace, the military maintains "a high level of readiness" and the Navy vessels were sent to boost the aerial defense systems that have been deployed in the area.
