[ad_1] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Israel and vowed to provide unending support for the country after it was attacked by Hamas
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Israel and vowed to provide unending support for the country after it was attacked by Hamas terrorists.
Militants from Gaza stormed Israel on Saturday in what Joe Biden described as the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
At least 150 hostages were taken as terrorists stormed a music festival and villages near the border.
It is estimated that around 1300 Israelis, many of them children and babies, were brutally murdered.
In retaliation, Israel has launched an unforgiving attack on Gaza, raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming 1400 lives.
Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis as a siege of the state continues, with the only power station running out of fuel.
Chilling texts sent from phone of Hamas hostage
A chilling rant has been sent from the phone of Shani Louk’s missing boyfriend amid fears he has been abducted by Hamas terrorists.
Tattoo artist Shani, 22, and her partner Orión Hernández Radoux, 30, were among unsuspecting ravers at an Israeli music festival when Hamas gunmen unleashed carnage.
Militants massacred at least 260 people while others were dragged to Gaza.
German-Israeli citizen Shani was feared dead after horrifying footage showed her seemingly body being paraded on a pickup truck.
But Shani’s mother, Ricarda Louk, said her family had received word she is alive but has a serious head injury and is in critical condition.
Her boyfriend Orión, meanwhile, is missing and it’s feared he is being held hostage by Hamas terrorists.
Harrowing messages written in Arabic have been sent from the dad’s phone as his family desperately try to find out what has happened to him.
Sick texts seen by The Sun say “I spit on you” and “God damn you”.
They also vow to “liberate Palestine” and make it “free of Zionists”.
Friends say Orión, from Mexico, travelled to the Negev desert for the music festival to share his knowledge of Mexican traditional huichol art and to DJ.
US ‘always by your side’, Blinken tells Israel in war with Hamas
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on a visit to Israel on Thursday that the United States will “always” back it.
Israeli forces have prepared for a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian coastal territory after what has been labelled Israel’s 9/11.
“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself,” Blinken said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.”
He also urged caution so as to avoid harming civilians.
“Our humanity, the value we place on human life and human dignity… is what makes us who we are,” he said.
“That’s why it is so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. And that’s why we mourn the loss of every innocent life, civilians of every faith, every nationality that have been killed.”
Netanyahu voiced appreciation for US support, which includes military aid, and said that Hamas should be treated like the Islamic State group.
“Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” Netanyahu said.
Israelis prepare for possible ground invasion
Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht said the military was readying for a potential order to launch a ground invasion in the war with Hamas.
“This has not been decided yet… but we are preparing for a ground manoeuvre if it is decided,” he said.
“Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership,” he told journalists.
There have been calls for a humanitarian corridor to allow Palestinians to escape ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion that would spell brutal urban combat and house-to-house fighting.
If Israel does send ground forces into Gaza, it risks walking into a Hamas “trap”, warned a former head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence service, Alex Younger, speaking on BBC radio.
“You shouldn’t do what your enemy wants you to do,” he said, arguing the inevitable loss of innocent life would further drive radicalisation and regional sentiment against Israel and its allies.
“These are all things that Hamas wants,” he said.
Hospitals risk running out of power
Hospitals in Gaza risk turning into morgues without electricity, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says.
Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday, and back-up generators could stop working in hours, it adds.
Medical centres have been overwhelmed after Israel imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza and pounded the territory with air and artillery strikes.
“As Gaza loses power, hospitals lose power, putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays can’t be taken,” said Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC’s director for the region.
“Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues.”
He added that hospitals were still running on generators – but fuel would only last “for a few hours”.
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