9,061 Palestinians killed, 14,000 displaced as Israel continues its onslaught on Gaza

Over 9,061 Palestinians, as reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry, have died in the war between Israel and Hamas. The conflict, which started on October 7 after Hamas, a terrorist group killed 1,400 Israeli Jews, has entered its 29th day with no signs of it getting resolved anytime soon.

The latest updates

• Israel continued its ground assault on the Gaza strip, with Tel-Aviv stating that it has completely surrounded the Gaza strip.
• Israel has continued to bombard the city of Gaza, leading to nearly 14,000 civilians being displaced so far.
• Civil emergency services in the besieged Gaza strip on Thursday reported that 15 people were found dead in the rubble after the Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp.
• At least 27 people were also reported to be killed in an Israeli air strike near a UN school in the Jabalia refugee camp.
  Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at no ceasefire with the Hamas group, with Tel Aviv officially stating that "no ceasefire is on the table."
• On the other hand, Hamas' military wing has also hinted at no compromise with Israel. In an audio message, it said that Gaza will be a curse for Israel. "Gaza will be the curse of history for Israel," Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, declared in an audio message to Israel.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel today.
• Though Lebanon's militant group, Hezbollah, had announced its war against Israel, it hasn’t yet entered the conflict fully.
• Analysts say that Hezbollah’s attack against Israel could be devastating for Lebanon, which is already grappling with a crushing economic crisis.

  

   

US flying drones over Gaza to search for hostages

• The United States has been flying surveillance drones over Gaza in the search for hostages taken by Hamas.
• Out of 242 hostages, Hamas has released only 4 hostages so far.
• US officials said that at least 10 Americans were held as hostages among the hostages taken by Hamas, Reuters reported.
• They said that the hostages could have been hidden inside the tunnel network in Gaza.

Israel to cut all contacts with Gaza workers

• Israel has said that it will sever all contacts with the Palestinian workers who are in Israel and would ask them to go back to the besieged Gaza strip, AFP reports.

"Israel is severing all contacts with Gaza. There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza," AFP reported Israel’s security cabinet.

WHO says Gaza in ‘indescribable’ situation

• "We’re running out of words to describe the horror unfolding in Gaza," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his statement.

  We are running out of words. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/b0eFuw5mvp

  — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 2, 2023

• He said that the hospitals in Gaza were crammed, morgues overflowing, and doctors performing surgery without anesthesia.
• WHO has also said that it was struggling with aid facilities as it couldn’t guarantee the safety of its staff in Gaza.

US asks for a pause

• US President Joe Biden, who had announced support for Israel, has briefly asked for a pause so that aid services can reach the Gaza strip.

• The 80-year-old leader has asked for some $9 billion aid to respond to the international humanitarian crisis in Gaza.