Rubbles of buildings after Israeli fighter jets pounded Gaza on Tuesday
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Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians killed in violence as death toll rises
Tens of thousands of Israeli troops have massed at the border with Gaza in what could presage a sweeping ground invasion of the strip.
Israeli military officials warned they had “created an iron wall of tanks, helicopters and aircraft” around Gaza as they continued to carry out strikes on the region from the air late on Tuesday night.
At least 900 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the latest updates, while roughly 4,500 have been wounded. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed.
The massing of Israeli troops comes as the Gaza energy authority warned that they have “only 10 to 12 hours of fuel left”.
Israel has shut off water, fuel and electricity supplies to the strip in what it has called a “complete siege”.
Many of the hospitals in Gaza are already “at capacity”, according to one British-Palestinian surgeon who spoke to The Independent, with medical supplies running out.
Gaza has just ‘10 to 12 hours of fuel left’, says Palestinian official
Gaza’s power authority says its sole power plant will run out of fuel within hours, leaving the territory without electricity after Israel cut off supplies.
The plant, which is the only current provider of electricity, will run out of fuel in 10 to 12 hours, Palestinian energy authority chairman Thafer Melhem told Voice of Palestine radio on Wednesday.
Israel said it would cut off all electricity to the territory after Hamas’ bloody rampage over the weekend.
All of Gaza’s crossings are closed, making it impossible to bring in fuel for the power plant or the generators on which residents and hospitals have long relied.
The power authority said Wednesday that the plant would shut down in the afternoon.
Around 10 Britons caught in violence, says Defence Secretary
Grant Shapps said he could not provide exact numbers on the number of British citizens caught up in the violence in Israel and Gaza but estimated there are around 10.
Speaking to Times Radio, the Defence Secretary said: “No I don’t have precise numbers on that. We think it might be in the region of 10 or so, but we don’t have exact numbers.”
Hamas will ‘pay for its crime’, says Israel
The Israeli Defence Forces have posted an ominous photo of the Gaza Strip from the small kibbutz of Kfar Aza nearby, vowing to make Hamas “pay for its crimes”.
Last night, the IDF claimed that Hamas terrorists had marched into Kfar Aza on Saturday and slaughtered more than a hundred civilians. They suggested that some of the militants had beheaded children as young as two-years-old.
Israeli forces had been fighting to get back into the kibbutz since Saturday. It was one of the last positions regained.
