The Israeli government has evacuated thousands from the town of Sderot in southern Israel that's under constant rocket-fire from Gaza Strip.
While Hamas continues to fire rockets at southern Israel, Hezbollah has ignited the Israel-Lebanon border in the north where it has continued to mount rocket, mortar, and anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) attacks.
The fighting on the two fronts continues as thousands of Palestinians flee to southern Gaza from the north as an all-out Israeli offensive looks imminent. The Israeli military has told civilians to vacate North Gaza and relocate to southern regions so that they don't become collateral damage in the fight with Hamas, which mounted an unprecedented attack on Israel last week that killed at least 1,300 and injured over 3,600, leading Israel to launch an aerial campaign in Gaza.
The humanitarian crisis has continued to worsen in Gaza as the United Nations (UN) warns that it is running out of supplies in the region. The toll has also continued to mount as several hundreds civilians, including children, are among over 2,300 dead and at least 9,000 injured in Israeli airstrikes. Food and water supplies are also running low.
Israel evacuates Sderot town under Hamas fire
The majority of Sderot's 30,000 residents have left the town as it remains under constant rocket-fire from Gaza.
Hamas has fired around 5,000 rockets at Israel since last Saturday when an all-out attack killed at least 1,300 Israelis and injured over 3,600. The bulk of the casualties have taken place in southern Israel where the worst massacres happened and most of the rockets landed.
Besides Sderot, rockets alerts also sounded in central Israel, included in Tel Aviv, and in northern Israel where Hezbollah appears to be launching a second front against Israel in a possible attempt to trap Israel in a multi-front war.
"The implication, that a major military operation in Gaza would endanger those remaining in Sderot, is well founded: in addition to constant sirens since Hamas's initial attack last Saturday, the city experienced a direct impact on Sunday when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a resident's home," reported The Jerusalem Post.
Hezbollah's attacks continue in northern Israel
The attacks on Israel have also continued from Lebanon where Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Palestinian groups are based. These groups, backed by Israel's arch-rival Iran, appear to be bogging down Israel in a second front.
At least nine rockets were launched from Lebanon by Hamas and five anti-tank attacks were carried out by Hezbollah, according to The Times of Israel.
Five of the nine rockets were intercepted by the Israeli air defence, according to Israeli military. One civilian was killed in the attacks.
In response to the attacks, the Israeli military conducted cross-border strikes targeting launch-sites of Hamas and Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah has fired several anti-tank guided missiles, rockets, and mortars at Israeli military positions in recent days, while Palestinian groups such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have both launched rockets and sent gunmen to infiltrate into Israel," noted The Times of Israel, adding that the Israeli military has bolstered presence in northern region to cope with any developing situation.
UN warns of dwindling food supplies in Gaza
The United Nations (UN) on Sunday issued another warning about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip. It said that its supplies were fast ending.
Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Gaza has been plunged into a crisis as food, water, and medical supplies are in acute shortage and hundreds of civilian casualties have taken place as Israel targets Hamas in airstrikes.
Hundreds of thousands have also been displaced as Israel told civilians to vacate North Gaza and relocate to southern regions so that they don't become collateral damage in the fight with Hamas.
In its latest warning, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said the shutdown of Gaza's only power plant forced bakeries and shops to close, leading to shortage of food, according to CNN.
The CNN also quoted WFP as saying that it is "ramping up" the distribution of bread and canned food, but that supplies are running out and nothing is going in or coming out despite international efforts of arranging aid.
"We’ve been able to assist 520,000 in Gaza so far but we’re running out of supplies, can’t get anything in or out, and can’t guarantee the safety of our staff. There are rules, even in war, and we have to make the protection of humanitarian workers and civilians a priority. Civilians will starve without our help...We need to send in help and set up on the border. The humanitarian community is ready to help. We have trucks heading there now. I hope the US can continue to make this point and keep this at the forefront as this conflict evolves. Emergency response is our strength. We want to do our job," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain, as per CNN.
US and Egypt arranging aid to Gaza, Israel opens water supply
The relief supplies have started arriving at the Egypt-Gaza border but are yet to cross over as an agreement is yet to be reached how those trucks would be screened to ensure they are not carrying any weapons, according to reports.
The Jerusalem Post reported that aid from several countries has built up at the border but is yet to be delivered over the failure to arrive at an agreement so far.
The development comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Egypt to hold talks with the Egyptian leader. The New York Times reported, "Egypt is intensifying communications with humanitarian organizations in order to get aid into Gaza, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency. It said that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has offered to host an 'international regional summit' to address the escalating conflict."
Separately, Israel has restored water supply in southern Israel where it had asked the civilians to go after vacating northern Gaza, according to White House.
Backchannel talks going on for hostages, aid: Report
Two streams of international back-channel talks are going on at the moment to deescalate the Israel-Hamas War.
The talks are on to release at least some of the hostages in Gaza and to provide relief supplies to Gaza to ease the humanitarian situation, according to The New York Times, which says the hostage talks are "less-developed" at the moment.
"The least advanced and most speculative effort — involving an ad hoc array of countries including Egypt and Qatar — is an attempt to persuade Hamas to release at least some of the 150 hostages...A more developed discussion underway about how to get aid convoys from Egypt into Gaza and foreigners from Gaza into Egypt — but those talks have still faltered," reported NYT.
Another Hamas commander killed in Gaza
The Israeli military on Sunday said that another Hamas commander involved in the last week's attack was killed in Israeli strikes.
The commander has been named as Billal al-Qedra, the commander of the so-called Nukhba unit’s southern Khan Younis battalion, according to The Times of Israel.
In the Israeli offensive so far, multiple Hamas ministers have been top commanders and a top Hamas naval commander has been taken in custody.
Red Cross demands access to hostages in Gaza
The Red Cross has demanded Hamas to provide access to the hostages in Gaza.
Around 150-200 hostages are understood to be held by Hamas and aligned Palestinian groups in Gaza, who were abducted in the last week's attack.
In infamous clips circulated and condemned widely, Hamas has paraded injured and dead women hostages. One woman, identified as a German national, was paraded in a semi-naked state amid celebratory cheering in Gaza.
The Red Cross has also said that it is in direct talks with Hamas to check for the well-being of hostages and is open to efforts to secure their release as well, according to The Times of Israel.
"We are speaking with Hamas at the highest levels, face-to-face. The plight of loved ones being held hostage is one of our top priorities. We are making demands to see them. We are asking that they be able to contact family members. We are calling for immediate access to those taken hostage, so we can check on their well-being and contact their panicked families who are desperate for news," said Sarah Davies of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for Israel and the Occupied Territories, as per The Times of Israel.
