Israel's Attacks to 'Root Out' Hamas in Gaza Continue

Israeli tanks and warplanes launched new attacks in southern Gaza on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the United Nations announced that Palestinians are facing increasing hunger as aid shipments are running out due to the intensity of the conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas. The war has now entered its third month. The clashes began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, including infants, women, and the elderly, while setting Israeli homes on fire and looting their properties. Hamas, supported by the Islamic Republic, is recognized as a terrorist group by several countries, including the United States. The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister accused Israel on Tuesday of using 'starvation' as a weapon of war against about 1 million people in Gaza, an accusation that an Israeli official called 'ugly.' Israel has stated that it allows aid to be sent to Gaza through the Rafah crossing and has indicated that the Kerem Shalom crossing will soon reopen to assist in the aid delivery process. In Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, residents reported that tank attacks are now focused on the city center. Gaza health officials, who are under Hamas control, reported that at least 22 people, including children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Rafah, which borders Egypt. Reuters quoted a resident of Rafah, who was searching through the rubble from the Israeli attack, as saying that there is 'no electricity, fuel, water, or medicine' in Rafah. The World Food Program of the United Nations states that half of the people in Gaza are hungry. The Israeli army said on Tuesday that it had attacked several rocket launch sites in the past 24 hours. Israel claims these sites were used to fire rockets into Israeli territory. Israel also stated that it attacked a Hamas complex where approximately 250 rockets, along with other weapons, were found and targeted a weapons manufacturing workshop. A spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said Israeli forces attacked the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday and detained several men, including medical staff, in the hospital courtyard. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to this claim. Israel asserts that its instructions to the public for movement are part of efforts to protect civilian lives in its attempts to root out Hamas. Hossein Amirabdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister, stated on Tuesday that Israel can never eliminate Hamas and can only free its hostages through negotiation. Earlier, images circulated on social media showing men in only their underwear surrendering to Israeli forces. Following the end of a one-week ceasefire at the beginning of December, the Israeli ground attack, which had been limited to the north, has expanded to the southern half of the Gaza Strip. According to Gaza health ministry officials, who are under Hamas control, at least 18,205 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli retaliatory attack, and nearly 50,000 have been injured. They claim thousands more are dead under the rubble or inaccessible to ambulances. Since the beginning of the ground invasion of Gaza, 105 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Palestinian Authority health officials and the Wafa news agency also reported that six Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike. They stated that the deceased included a 13-year-old boy who lost his life. Prior to the Hamas attack, sporadic clashes in the West Bank had intensified, and experts said that Iran-backed groups wanted to escalate tensions there. Efforts at the United Nations: The UN General Assembly will vote on Tuesday, December 12, on a draft resolution for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Previously, this resolution had been vetoed by the United States in the 15-member Security Council. In the General Assembly, which has 193 members, no country has veto power. According to Reuters, General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight and reflect the global attitude toward the Israel-Hamas war. Joe Biden: We will continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they rid themselves of Hamas. Israel claims to have besieged the last Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza.