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Israel announces 'total' blockade on Gaza

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293 comments
  • Israel has announced a ā€œtotalā€ blockade of the already besieged Gaza Strip, including a ban on food and water, after Hamas carried out the biggest attack on the country in decades.

    Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel as part of ā€œa complete siegeā€ on Hamas-run Gaza, where about 2.3 million people live in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

    der crossing points; the third is controlled by Egypt.

    ā€œWe are putting a complete siege on Gaza ā€¦ No electricity, no food, no water, no gas ā€“ itā€™s all closed,ā€ Gallant said in a video statement.

    Israelā€™s chief military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, told reporters on Monday that Israel has ā€œcontrolā€ of its communities following Saturdayā€™s mass incursion of Hamas fighters into its territory.

    Hagari said there had been some isolated incidents on Monday morning, but that ā€œat this stage, there is no fighting in the communitiesā€.

    He added that ā€œthere might still be terrorists in the regionā€.

    Israeli tanks and drones were guarding openings in the fence to prevent more infiltrations, Hagari said, adding that 15 of 24 border communities had been evacuated, with the rest expected to be evacuated over the next 24 hours.

    Earlier, Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told The Associated Press news agency that the groupā€™s fighters continued to battle outside Gaza and had captured more Israelis as recently as Monday morning.

    He said the group aims to free all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, which in the past has agreed to lopsided exchange deals in which it released large numbers of prisoners for individual captives or even the remains of soldiers.

    SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

  • This conflict has been bringing out the absolute worst in people. Lemmy is acting more civil than reddit, but fuck.. it's not great. I see why this subject is avoided.

  • Hopefully the blockade can be lifted soon. Since it appears Israel is at war against the government of Gaza (Hamas), there's a difficult line to walk where a complete and lasting victory is achieved while avoiding humanitarian disaster. A quick victory will hopefully avoid the most extremes of humanitarian disaster. In the long term I hope nearby Arab states help provide a peaceful solution to the problem.

    • While i undestand the strategic motivation and can see why fuels and electricity are considered necessary to weaken the military capeabilities of Hamas cutting the supply of drinking water and food is not excuseable.

      Especially without access to water it only takes a few days until people are dying from dehydration and it is impossible to treat wounded. Also the substitution of clean drinking water with water from tainted sources can quickly lead to an epidemic of cholera and other deadly diseases that would be devastating and impossible to contain given the current situation.

      • Is there a reasonably safe way to provide water during the type of military operation that's coming? Pipes have historically been used to smuggle weapons into Gaza, even the water pipes, so Israel is likely trying to contain that source of weapons during the upcoming operation.

293 comments