Israeli Defence Minister orders ‘complete seige’ on Gaza

Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a “complete seige” on the Gaza Strip as forces claimed to have regained all the communities around the coastal enclave on the third day of the conflict with the Hamas militant group.

“No electricity, no food, no fuel,” the BBC quoted the Minister as saying in a televised address.

“We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly,” he added.

Israel controls the air space over Gaza and its shoreline, and restricts who and what goods are allowed in and out through its border crossings.

Similarly, Egypt controls who passes in and out of its border with Gaza, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, Hamas on Monday said that it fired 120 rockets toward the southern Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon in response to Israeli airstrikes.

As a result of the incoming rockets, sirens were sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as well.

According to Israel’s emergency services, in Ashkelon, just north of Gaza, four people were injured, while in Ashdod, a woman was critically injured.

Monday marked the third day of conflict between Israel and Hamas after the militant group launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, prompting the Jewish nation to declare war and pound the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.

So far, the death toll in the Gaza Strip increased to 493 on Monday, with 2,751 people injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel has maintained its death toll at more than 700.

At least of 123,538 people have been internally displaced in Gaza in the three days since the conflict broke out, according to UN agencies.

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(IANS)