Ruined houses, with some objects reminding that they were once full of people and life, are the shocking sights seen in Israel after the attack by Hamas ten days ago.
The embassy of Israel in Greece published two photos on X (formerly Twitter) of a house that became the target of bombings.
At its entrance is a sign that writes the name of the family that lived there in Greek, English and Arabic: "GOLDSTEIN". All around, some plant pots escaped the disaster...
Κάποτε αυτό το σπίτι στο #Ισραήλ, με το όνομα της οικογένειας στα ελληνικά στην είσοδό του, ήταν γεμάτο ζωή, αγάπη και γέλιο. Τώρα είναι άδειο και επικρατεί μόνο εκκωφαντική σιωπή.
Once this house in #Israel, with the family name written in Greek at its entrance, was full of… pic.twitter.com/53QVxw4BnV
— Israel in Greece 🇮🇱🇬🇷 (@IsraelinGreece) October 16, 2023
In another room, the situation is worse. The walls, the ceiling, everything is destroyed. The only sign of recent life is the bed, while on the wall dominates an engraved drawing of a family embracing.
"Once this house in Israel, with the family name written in Greek at its entrance, was full of life, love and laughter. Now it is empty, and there is only deafening silence," the post said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday to pledge support for the country as it prepares a major military offensive in Gaza.
Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem; he heads to Tel Aviv next to meet with the war cabinet.
The visit, Blinken’s second in just a few days to the country, comes after President Biden warned that a new Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a “big mistake” — one of his firmest efforts to signal restraint to Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reaches critical levels.
About 600,000 people have been displaced from the north of the enclave, aid agencies say. Food and water supplies in Gaza are dangerously low and hospitals there will run out of fuel within 24 hours, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sunday.
U.S. diplomats are attempting to monitor the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but Egyptian officials have held them back, warning them that it isn’t safe due to specific threats.
“We have been trying,” said a State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter. “The Egyptians have told us there are acute security threats there that prevent it.”
The border crossing is a potentially critical transit point for food, water and fuel into the territory, which is under an Israeli blockade. It is also the only functioning crossing out of Gaza for people fleeing Israel’s bombardment.
On Saturday, the United States announced that a deal was struck to allow U.S. citizens through, but the border has remained closed amid conflicting claims by the Egyptians, Hamas and Israelis.
The closest that U.S. officials have been able to get to the crossing is Ismailia, more than 250 kilometres away, the official said.
Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold phone calls with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, Russia’s presidential adviser Yury Ushakov said.
Last week, Russia said it was “extremely concerned” about the Israel-Gaza war but stopped short of condemning Hamas. Instead, Putin blamed Western foreign policy, accusing the United States in particular of having “neglected the mechanisms of settlement in the Middle East.”
“We believe that the situation should be brought to a peaceful resolution as soon as possible, as the continuation of such a spiral of violence is fraught with further escalation of the conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 9.
Russia’s carefully crafted response to the surprise Hamas assault on Israel and its aftermath highlighted decades of nuanced — at times contradictory — diplomacy in which the Kremlin has sought strong ties with Israel while also supporting the Palestinian cause and courting groups such as Hamas that are committed to Israel’s destruction.
READ MORE: Thousands in Istanbul demonstrate in support of the Palestinians - See the photos.
