Israel pounds Gaza City on Day 4, cuts off supplies to region in deadly retaliation for weekend attack

With most countries scrambling to determine how many of their citizens were either dead, missing or in need of crucial medical help or needed to board flights back to their home countries, the Israel-Hamas war in West Asia entered Day 4 on Tuesday.

A number of countries have offered to mediate to bring about an end to the fighting, which has already killed at least 1,600 people in the region. The death toll is expected to grow as Israel pummelled the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and forced Palestinians to seek refuge in UN shelters.

Israel, meanwhile on Day 4 increased its barrage of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and cut it off from food, fuel, and other supplies in retaliation to Saturday’s deadly and sudden infiltration by Hamas militants carried out over land-sea-air with military precision. The militants caught Israel completely off guard early on Saturday morning and even managed to penetrate the nearly impenetrable air defence system, arguably one of the best in the world—Israel’s famed Iron Dome.

Not content with inflicting maximum damage on Israeli citizens, Hamas also abducted and took hostages. On Monday night, after reeling from Israel’s airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, Hamas has threatened to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without warnings.

On the war’s fourth day, Israel was still gathering bodies from Hamas’ stunning weekend attack on southern Israeli towns, while continuing to bomb Gaza City, according to emerging media reports. Israel has also started expanding its massive mobilization of reservists, promising crushing retaliation for Saturday’s daring attack on its towns and cities.

Israel’s military on Tuesday morning also said in a statement that it had effectively regained control over its southern areas and the corresponding border.

Carrying out what it claimed were the fiercest air strikes in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, Israel has allegedly razed whole districts to dust despite a Hamas threat to execute a captive for each home hit. Ignoring the threats, Israel has vowed “mighty revenge” since Hamas gunmen rampaged through its towns, in what is also being seen as the deadliest attack in its history.

Gaza’s health ministry on Tuesday said Israel’s retaliatory strikes had killed at least 770 people and wounded more than 4,000. The air strikes, already the heaviest ever, intensified on Tuesday evening, shaking the ground and pouring columns of smoke and flames into the morning sky.

According to a United Nations estimate, more than 180,000 Gazans had been made homeless, many huddling on streets or in schools. Bombardment shut roads to emergency crews and has limited access to hospitals.