Israel-Palestine War Enters 6th Day: Top 10 Developments

Palestinians on Wednesday struggled to find any safe area in the sealed-off Gaza Strip after Israeli strikes demolished entire neighbourhoods. Also, hospitals ran low on supplies and the territory's only power plant ran out of fuel, deepening the misery of a war triggered after a surprise assault by Hamas militants on Saturday.

Airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris. The bombardment raged on even though militants are holding an estimated 150 people snatched from Israel - soldiers, men, women, children and older adults, PTI reported.

Here are the top 10 developments in the conflict:

1. The death toll has surged to nearly 3,600 people in both Israel and Gaza over the span of four days. Israel has said that it has successfully regained control of Gaza's border regions from the group.
2. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a prominent opposition leader struck an agreement to establish a unity government during this time of conflict. This unified government aims to manage the operations against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
3. Benny Gantz, who served as a Defence Minister and also Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the past, said that they would form a five-member "war-management" Cabinet, which will consist of Netanyahu, current Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, two other top officials serving as "observers" and himself as members.
4. The White House has clarified that neither President Joe Biden nor other US officials have witnessed or independently verified reports suggesting that Hamas terrorists have beheaded Israeli children. It comes after Biden told Jewish leaders at the White House: "It is important for Americans to see what is happening. I have been doing this for a long time. I never thought that I would see, or have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children."
5. India is launching 'Operation Ajay' to facilitate the return from Israel of those Indians who wish to come back home, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced on Wednesday. "Launching #OperationAjay to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to return," Jaishankar posted on X. "Special charter flights and other arrangements being put in place. Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad," he said.
6. At around at 4:30 am on Thursday, Israel's military confirmed an extensive strike on Hamas targets in Gaza, without disclosing specific details.
7. According to an early Thursday (local time) statement by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 330,000 individuals in Gaza have been displaced since Israel initiated its bombardment of the strip.
8. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has departed for Israel in a display of Washington's support for Israel. Speaking to reporters ahead of his departure, Blinken said, "We are heading, as you know, to Israel, and I'm going with a very simple and clear message on behalf of the President of the United States and on behalf of the American people, and that is that the United States has Israel's back. We have the back of the Israeli people. We have their back today. We'll have it tomorrow. We will have it every day."
9. In the first phone call since the two countries restored ties in March, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the situation in Palestine. On Wednesday, Mohammad Jamshidi, Raisi's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, said in a statement on X that the two leaders "agreed on the need to end war crimes against Palestine."
10. In a viral video, Hamas Commander Mahmoud al-Zahar has claimed that the entire world will be under "our law". "The entire 510 million square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under a system where there is no injustice, no oppression, and no killings and crimes like those being committed against the Palestinians and against the Arabs in all the Arab countries, in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and other countries," he said.