According to Reuters, along with photos of tanks, some images released on October 29 (local time) showed Israeli soldiers waving flags deep inside Gaza.
Fierce war
The Israeli military announced on October 29 that it had struck more than 450 Hamas targets, including command centers, guard posts and anti-tank missile launchers, in just 24 hours. Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said his country was gradually expanding its ground operations and the range of its forces in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Hamas fired mortars at Israeli forces in northern Gaza and fired rockets at Israeli tanks.
An Israeli tank drill is seen inside the Gaza Strip on October 29.
Central Israel also came under heavy rocket fire. Sirens sounded in several major cities. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, confirmed that it was bombing Tel Aviv. Later, the force continued to clash with Israel in northwestern Gaza and claimed to have burned two enemy tanks. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the information.
There are also concerns about the conflict spreading beyond Gaza, as Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces are locked in a gun battle in Lebanon. There have been several rocket or mortar attacks from Lebanon into Israeli territory, which Israel has returned fire.
Humanitarian aid
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 24 trucks carrying food and medicine arrived in Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, bringing the total to 118 so far, a fraction of what is needed. It was the largest aid convoy since the Hamas-Israel conflict began. But aid workers said the supplies were still far from filling the gap. Thousands of people have broken into warehouses to steal flour and basic hygiene products, Reuters reported.
Egyptian Red Crescent members coordinate aid to Gaza
A top Hamas leader also called on Egypt on Monday to take "decisive" action to speed up aid to Gaza, according to AFP. Meanwhile, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan also visited the Rafah border crossing, where he said blocking aid to innocent civilians could constitute a crime and called on Israel to cooperate.
Under pressure, Elad Goren, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry's Civil Affairs in Palestine (COGAT) unit, said Israel would allow a significant increase in aid to Gaza in the coming days and that Palestinian civilians should go to a "humanitarian zone" in the south of the tiny territory.
As of late October 29, health authorities in the Gaza Strip confirmed that 8,005 people, including 3,324 minors, had been killed in the fighting. The pre-war population of the area was 2.3 million. The media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government said that 116 doctors and 35 journalists had been killed since the conflict began.
Palestine strives to find solution
The Guardian newspaper on October 30 quoted Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh as saying that after the Hamas-Israel conflict ends, his government will not return to manage Gaza if the parties do not have a comprehensive agreement, in which the West Bank belongs to the Palestinian state.
"I think what we need is a comprehensive, peaceful vision. The West Bank needs a solution, and then linking Gaza to that solution within a two-state framework," Mr. Shtayyeh said in his office in Ramallah, West Bank.
Palestine also called for an emergency Arab summit, which Mr. Shtayyeh hoped would take place on November 10, to restore unity in establishing a functioning Palestinian state.
Prime Minister Shtayyeh said that in order to achieve a lasting peace solution, the US administration will have to show leadership, noting that Joe Biden is the first US president in recent times to take office without a Middle East peace initiative.
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