New Delhi: As Israel unleashed a massive bombardment on Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden sent a stern warning to Iran not to interfere in the conflict with Hamas, which could escalate into a regional war. Reuters reported that Israeli air strikes forced hundreds of thousands of Gazans to flee their homes. The Israeli military said it was retaliating for a weekend assault by Hamas terrorists who crossed the border fence into Israel and wreaked havoc in nearby towns and villages, killing 1,200, wounding more than 2,700, and taking many hostages.
Israel said it launched a “large-scale strike” on Hamas targets in Gaza around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, without giving further details. Biden dispatched his top envoy, Antony Blinken, to the Middle East to demonstrate Washington’s unwavering support for Israel, secure the release of prisoners, including Americans, and prevent a broader war.
Biden told a group of Jewish leaders in Washington that his move to send military ships and planes closer to Israel was a message to Iran, which supports Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “We made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful,” Biden said.
U.S. sources said on Wednesday that Iran probably had prior knowledge of Hamas’ plans to launch “operations against Israel” but some Iranian officials were caught off guard by the group’s unprecedented attack from Gaza, according to initial U.S. intelligence reports.
Blinken was expected to land in Israel on Thursday and also visit Jordan. He had no plans to go to the West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation, where he usually meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
On Wednesday, Israel’s leaders formed a unity government, vowing to set aside their bitter political differences and focus on the battle against Hamas. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a centrist rival of Netanyahu, appeared live on Israeli TV with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant after creating a war cabinet dedicated solely to the conflict.
“Our partnership is not political, it is a shared fate,” Gantz said. “At this time we are all the soldiers of Israel.” Netanyahu said Israel’s people and leaders were united. “We have put aside all differences because the fate of our state is on the line,” he said.
Gantz’s National Unity Party, which has strongly opposed judicial reforms proposed by Netanyahu’s right-wing alliance, said it will not push for any unrelated policy or legislation while the fighting continues.
Israel has imposed a “total siege” on Gaza, cutting off food and fuel supplies to the enclave of 2.3 million people, many of whom are poor and rely on aid. Hamas media said on Wednesday that power went out after the only power plant stopped working.
With Palestinian rescue workers overwhelmed, others in the densely populated strip searched for bodies in the debris. “I was sleeping here when the house collapsed on top of me,” one man sobbed as he and others used flashlights on the stairs of a building hit by rockets to find anyone trapped.
Hamas-linked media said on Wednesday that seven people died in Israeli air strikes on houses in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,200, with about 5,600 injured, Palestinian media reported, citing Gaza’s health ministry.
Some 340,000 of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced by the war, and about 65% of them have sought refuge at shelters or schools, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the enclave.
Israel has deployed units of tanks and armored vehicles near Gaza in possible preparation for a ground invasion of the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.