The Israeli war machine continued its relentless bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, while also extending its attacks to targets in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank.
Missile strikes hit two airports in Syria and a mosque near the West Bank city of Jenin that the Israelis claimed was being used by Palestinian resistance fighters.
These Israeli actions threaten to trigger a broader conflict across the region.
Tensions are also soaring in other parts of the occupied West Bank, where Israel’s troops have carried out attacks on refugee camps and launched a number of air strikes in recent days.
A new convoy of 17 aid trucks entered war-torn Gaza yesterday as Israel stepped up strikes on the Palestinian enclave which is suffering a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation.
With fears of a wider conflagration mounting, Iran said the region could spiral “out of control” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah that if it got involved, it would be “the mistake of its life”.
Israeli bombing campaign has killed more than 4,600 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
More than 40 percent of Gaza’s housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN citing local authorities, and Israel has halted food, water, fuel and electricity supplies.
Yesterday’s delivery of 17 trucks of aid through Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt was the second such operation in two days, with 20 lorries having arrived on Saturday following negotiations and U.S. pressure.
Separately, an AFP journalist in Gaza saw six trucks leaving the Rafah terminal after filling up from dwindling fuel stocks held at the crossing.
The United Nations estimates that about 100 trucks per day are required to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents given the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned fuel supplies would run out in three days.
“Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance,” Philippe Lazzarini said.
Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops around the enclave for an anticipated ground invasion.
Syrian media reported that Israeli air strikes had targeted the international airports in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, killing one person and making the runways unusable.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the United Nations security souncil to “fulfil its responsibilities under the charter and put an end to these Israeli aggressions.”
Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but it said it had acted to prevent Hezbollah and other resistance groups from bringing in arms allegedly provided by Iran.
Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters on a near-daily basis since the latest war against the Palestinians began.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah said that six of its fighters had been killed on Saturday and deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem warned that Israel would pay a high price if it started a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets early yesterday in response to rocket fire.
At a Cairo summit, even Arab leaders at peace with Israel have expressed growing anger over the Gaza war.
Egypt and Jordan harshly criticised Tel Aviv on Saturday for its actions in Gaza, a sign that the two Western allies that made peace with Israel decades ago are losing patience with its two-week-old war against the Palestinians.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi reiterated his rejection of any talk of driving Gaza’s 2.3 million people into the Sinai peninsula and warned against the “liquidation of the Palestinian cause.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah II branded Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza “a war crime.”
The leaders at the summit reflected growing anger in the region, even among those with close ties to Israel who have often served as go-betweens with the Israelis.
More than 4,300 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and more than 1,400 in Israel.
