Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, commander of the Israeli Army’s 162nd Division, announced on 1 November that Israeli forces were advancing deep into the Gaza Strip. Firm AP General Cohen is quoted as saying: “We are at the entrance to Gaza city.”
According to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Israeli army appears to be advancing on three main routes. One direction comes from the north-east of Gaza. One direction is from the south of Gaza City, aimed at the main north-south highway.
The third direction ran from the northwestern corner of the Gaza Strip, about 5 km down the Mediterranean coast and to the outskirts of the Shati and Jabaliya refugee camps on the edge of Gaza City.
Israeli tanks in Kibbutz Biri in the south of the country. Photo: Reuters
The same day, on 1 November, the Israeli military said it had carried out airstrikes to attack the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day. images on the radio al Jazeera Injured people, including children, are shown being taken to the hospital.
Israel said it killed another Hamas commander in its second attack on Gaza’s largest refugee camp in two consecutive days.
Specifically, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that fighters “based on accurate intelligence” attacked a command post of the Islamic movement Hamas located in the Jabaliya camp and The head of Hamas’s anti-tank missile unit, Mr. Muhammad Assar, was killed.
Earlier, on October 31, the IDF had also attacked the Jabaliya camp and claimed to have killed another Hamas commander.
Hamas said the two attacks on the Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least 195 Palestinians, with 120 missing under debris and 777 injured.
theo AP, Hamas and the Palestinian Jihad group (also in the Gaza Strip) said there were clashes with Israeli forces in several locations. Hamas posted a video showing the group’s gunmen emerging from tunnels and firing anti-tank missiles at Israeli tanks in eastern Gaza City.
Palestinians amid the ruins of buildings hit by Israeli air strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1. Photo: AP
Millions of Palestinians live in northern Gaza. As Israeli troops advance towards densely populated areas of Gaza City, casualties are expected to increase on both sides. Israel’s statement said: “Hamas deliberately built infrastructure under, around and inside civilian buildings, deliberately endangering the people of Gaza.”
Meanwhile, the Turkish-Palestinian Hospital, the only facility providing specialized treatment for cancer patients in Gaza, was forced to close due to fuel shortages, leaving 70 cancer patients in critical condition.
The World Health Organization said the fuel shortage would threaten 1,000 patients undergoing dialysis, 130 premature babies in incubators, as well as cancer patients and people on ventilators.
On November 3, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan and meet Israeli government leaders. The purpose of the visit is, on the one hand, to reiterate US support for Israel’s right to self-defense, and on the other hand, to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.
US National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby said on 1 November that Washington does not believe Hamas can take part in running Gaza in the future following an end to the conflict.
Although the death toll in Gaza is rising, Mr. Kirby said the United States does not believe now is the time for a ceasefire, but the pause is necessary for humanitarian purposes.
