Israel Carries Out Gaza Airstrikes As Death Toll On Both Sides Rises

Humanitarian groups have expressed fears about the situation for civilians in Gaza amid an Israeli pledge to cut off the enclave of 2.3 million people from water, food and power.

Gaza’s power authority said Wednesday it expected to run out of fuel for its only power plant later in the day. Doctors Without Borders said fuel and medical supplies were running low.

In a video message early Wednesday, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus defended Israeli airstrikes that have destroyed residential buildings, saying those sites are legitimate military targets because Hamas intentionally locates its operations in civilian buildings.

The United Nations says more than 263,000 people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip since the fighting began, and that the number is expected to rise.

Conricus said 360,000 Israeli reservists were preparing to carry out the mission of making sure “Hamas at the end of this war won’t have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli civilians.”

Another spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters that 169 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and that the military has contacted the families of 60 soldiers who were abducted by Hamas fighters and taken to Gaza.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that a small group of U.S. special forces is working with the Israeli military to assist with planning and intelligence in the Israeli counteroperation against Hamas.

“We also have the ability to rapidly deploy other resources into the region,” Austin said.

The U.S. also sent a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, which Conricus said Wednesday brought a message of deterrence to ensure the conflict with Hamas does not expand into a regional war.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling Wednesday to Israel to bring a “message of solidarity and support,” the State Department said.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Blinken wants to hear from Israeli leaders “about the situation on the ground and how we can continue to best support them in their fight against the terrorists who launched these horrific attacks.”

In addition to the Israelis killed, the dead have also included nationals from other countries. Australia, Brazil and the Philippines were among those that confirmed deaths Tuesday.

Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, told Alhurra, the U.S. government’s Arabic language satellite TV channel, that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented with a “lack of health support, suspension of schools, hospitals, and health institutions, cutoff of water, electricity, and communications and internet.” Saidam said with the intensity of Israeli airstrikes, “I don’t think there will be anything for the Israeli tanks if they decided to enter in a ground battle.”

Alon Liel, former Israeli diplomat and director general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Alhurra that after the “humiliation and the horrific scenes” from the Hamas attack, the Israeli response will continue.

“There are strong demands and there is a need for the government to explain this defeat and convert it to a victory. No one in the leadership currently thinks about stopping the attacks,” Liel said.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.