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Israel pounded hundreds of targets in Gaza from the air on Monday, October 23, as its soldiers fought Hamas militants during raids into the besieged Palestinian strip where civilians are trapped in harrowing conditions. “We are well prepared for the ground operations in the south,” he added, referring to southern Israel, which abuts Gaza. “There are tactical, operative, strategic considerations that have provided additional time, and troops who have more time are better prepared, and that is what we are doing now.”
“Any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire. Already, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes,” Obama said in a statement posted on social media. On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said 436 people had been killed in bombardments over the last 24 hours, most in the south of the coastal enclave next to which Israeli troops and tanks have massed for a possible ground invasion.