As desperation in Gaza grows, Israel says it won’t allow aid to flow until Hamas releases hostages

JERUSALEM: The Israel military pulverized the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said Thursday its complete siege on the territory — which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine — would remain in place until Hamas militants freed some 150 hostages taken during a deadly weekend incursion.

A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, were a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas’ grisly weekend attack, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Since the grisly attack by Hamas militants, Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt.

“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver” should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.

Hamas’ assault on Saturday killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers — a toll unseen in Israel for decades — and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members.

As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit international airports in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in the northern city of Aleppo, putting them out of service.

The relentless barrage on Gaza — 6,000 munitions dropped since the conflict began, the military said — left Palestinians running through streets with what belongings they could carry, looking for a safe place.

Strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp Thursday afternoon collapsed two residential buildings with dozens belonging to several families sheltering inside, said a neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia. Rescue workers were bringing out the dead, he and another neighbor said, but the toll was not immediately confirmed.