Hamas’ military wing, Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, has warned that Israeli soldiers will return to their homes in “black bags”.
“Gaza will be the curse of history for Israel,” its spokesperson Abu Obeida said, according to the South China Morning Post.
This is after Israel’s military claimed to have surrounded the densely populated Gaza City following the expansion of ground operations.
Al Jazeera reported Amnesty International’s senior crisis adviser Donatella Rovera as claiming that Israel had used white phosphorus as a weapon in civilian areas based on investigations into four incidents on Oct 10, 11, 16 and 17.
“The incidents that happened raise concern because white phosphorus has been used by Israeli forces in the past with devastating consequences for the civilian population.
“This is something that should never be used in areas where there are civilians. It is not a banned weapon – it can be used on the battlefield and forces do use it lawfully – but it should not be used where there are civilians,” she told Al Jazeera.
In a televised statement, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff Herzi Halevi said Gaza City has been encircled on three sides and soldiers are fighting in close quarters.
“[Israeli forces] are in the heart of northern Gaza, operating in Gaza City, surrounding it,” The Guardian quoted him as stating.
The latest development comes as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken heads to Israel and Jordan for talks on a humanitarian pause to the war.
Blinken had said that he plans to discuss concrete steps to minimise harm to the civilians in Gaza.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden said that there should be a pause to the ongoing conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives since Oct 7.
According to the BBC, he made the remark after a heckler urged him to call for a ceasefire when he was making a campaign speech in Minneapolis.
"I think we need a pause," he replied, adding that it would allow for hostages to be freed.
Scrutinising Blinken’s mission, the BBC said US diplomats have a “daunting task ahead of them - reassuring the Israelis of continued American support while stepping up pressure to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza. The devastation in the Palestinian territory is increasing tensions with Israel’s Arab neighbours – and risking a widening of the conflict”.
“Blinken has said he wants to talk to leaders throughout the region in the days ahead about how to ensure a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Plotting a long-term future may be difficult, however, if the secretary is unable to bring new assurances - and evidence - of Israeli restraint to Arab leaders when the secretary meets with them over the weekend,” it added.
Responding to a question on how he felt about reports that thousands of children have been killed or injured in Gaza, he replied: "Children are children, it doesn't matter which country they are from.”
"Children need to be off limits. I can't hate not even the children of my so-called enemies. How can you hate a child?" he added.
Netanyahu’s days as PM numbered?
Meanwhile, Politico claimed that Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the latter’s days in office could be numbered.
According to the report, this scenario has cropped up in recent White House meetings involving Biden.
“Biden has gone so far as to suggest to Netanyahu that he should think about lessons he would share with his eventual successor,” it quoted two senior administration officials as stating.
A current US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Politico that the “internal expectation” was that Netanyahu only has a matter of months left.
“There’s going to have to be a reckoning within Israeli society about what happened. Ultimately, the buck stops on the prime minister’s desk,” the official added.
In an article titled 'Israel’s Netanyahu faces reckoning over Hamas disaster', the South China Morning Post noted how opinion polls in Israel are blaming him for the failure to stop the Hamas attack although the 74-year-old politician has refused to accept responsibility.
“The scale of the killing, accounts of trauma and images of the violence that emerged from the southern Israeli communities around Gaza have shaken the country.
“In his sixth term as prime minister, Netanyahu heads one of Israel’s most extreme right-wing coalitions and has come under increasing pressure as the initial shock has given way to fury at the failures that allowed the attack to take place,” it added.
The Jerusalem Post reported how former head of Military Intelligence Maj-Gen Amos Malka criticised Netanyahu, saying he is focusing more on his survival rather than on the ongoing war.
"His judgement in the conduct of the war at the moment is flawed and tends towards a blame game and a plan to detach himself from responsibility,” he said. - Mkini
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