Bhubaneswar: Amid loss of over 1,100 lives on both sides as Israel-Palestine fighting continued at 7-8 points near Gaza for more than 24 hours after the initial surprise Hamas attack, noted artist from Odisha Sudarsan Pattnaik sent out a message, expressing “Solidarity with Humanity while “Praying for Peace”, through a sand installation on Puri sea beach.
After formally declaring war against the Palestinian Hamas group, Israel pounded the besieged Gaza Strip for a second night in a row. Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling struck more than 500 targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Israeli military said Monday.
“The level and speed of the air strikes inside the Gaza Strip has remarkably intensified during the last couple of hours,” Al Jazeera reported, adding that some of the buildings were struck without prior warning.
According to some reports, nearly 300 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes in the last 24 hours.
Fierce fighting is also continuing between Israeli troops and Hamas gunmen at seven to eight locations around the Gaza Strip. “We’re still fighting. There are between seven to eight open places around Gaza (where) we still have warriors fighting terrorists,” military spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters.
The number of Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hamas has also risen to 73.
Nepal’s Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed death of 10 Nepali students in Israel after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented land, sea and air offensive in the country’s southern region.
According to Israeli media, around 130 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have also been taken into neighbouring Gaza as hostages.
Zaka, an Israeli rescue service, said it had removed about 260 bodies from a techno music festival, attended by thousands in the Israeli desert, by Sunday. A 23-year-old American-Israeli man is among those missing after Hamas attacked the music festival.
Meanwhile, several major airlines, including American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates and Ryanair, have also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport until further notice.
