Israel kills 100 despite Trump’s plea to “stop bombing”

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since Hamas agreed on October 3rd to free the remaining Israeli hostages as part of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, the Middle East Eye reported on October 6th.

These attacks, which included strikes against residential areas, refugee camps and aid hubs, occurred despite Trump’s order on October 3rd for Israel to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza.”

The Gaza-based Government Media Office confirmed that between October 4th and October 5th, Israeli forces carried out 131 artillery strikes and airstrikes against heavily-populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

Israel had previously razed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City on September 14th, which is home to at least one million people.

Doctors working in Gaza have described the situation as a “slaughterhouse”, where hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of casualties from Israeli airstrikes in the densely populated Strip.

According to the Israeli military, the escalating violence is part of a plan to destroy any Hamas presence in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said on October 5th that there is currently no ceasefire, but a “change in the operational situation”.

“Two years ago, we witnessed the most difficult event in our history, and we do not intend to return to the days before 7 October 2023,” Zamir said, referencing the Hamas-led attacks against Israel, where 251 people were taken hostage by Hamas militants, and around 1,200 people were killed in the attacks.

“We are changing the reality throughout the Middle East, on all fronts. We are not containing ourselves; we are attacking and destroying the enemy on every front.”

Far-right figures in the Israeli government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, have previously pushed for the war on Gaza to continue until Hamas is eliminated.

Ben-Gvir has also said: “I say to the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu]: you have no mandate to go for a partial deal and not decisively defeat Hamas.”

A similar sentiment has been echoed by Smotrich, who has said: “Continue to the end, win and bring back all the hostages in one go.”

Israel justifies its military operation in Gaza as self-defence against Hamas, despite the UN concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza on September 16th.

The situation in Gaza was called a “21st-century atrocity” by the UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, who said: “A child has been killed on average every hour for almost two years in Gaza; the lucky children sleep in tents.”

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org