As the fighting between the Israeli forces and Hamas intensifies with hundreds of Israelis under hostage, Palestinian resistance fighters ruled out any possibility of a prisoner swap with Tel Aviv as the occupied entity has suffered over 800 casualties since the potent attack on early Saturday. The group indicated that the prisoners would be executed if the Israeli strikes occurred in the Gaza Strip without prior warning to residents. According to AFP, Qatar is spearheading efforts to negotiate an exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas following the Palestinian group's surprise response against the continued brutality of Israel in Tel Aviv.
As many as 2,053 people have been killed as a result of violent earthquakes that struck Afghanistan late Saturday while 9,240 people have been injured, a government spokesperson confirmed to Reuters on Sunday. The death toll from the earthquakes, which was previously reported to be 120, is expected to rise as rescue operations are still underway in the affected areas. "Unfortunately, the casualties are practically very high," deputy government spokesman Bilal Karimi said early Sunday, as the extent of the damage became clear. Additionally, 1,328 houses were flattened after eight powerful aftershocks from the magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook the region 30 kilometres northwest of Herat and terrified city people to flee into the streets.
Gazans headed for shelters after fleeing their homes. Israeli police report "21 active scenes" in southern Israel. Emergency services dispatched to affected areas near Gaza. The Israeli death toll has risen to 100 as Hamas's "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm" rages on, while at least 198 Palestinians have been martyred and 1,610 wounded in the Gaza Strip in Israel's retaliatory air strikes. According to Israel’s N12 News, at least 100 Israelis have so far been killed in the attacks launched by the Hamas movement. The Palestinian health ministry said up until 4:20 pm (1320 GMT) there were "198 martyrs and 1,610 wounded with different injuries" in the conflict.
What is Hamas? Hamas, an acronym of Harakah al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Resistance Movement), was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising. It shares the Islamic ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was established in Egypt in the 1920s. It has run the Gaza Strip since 2007, after a brief civil war with forces loyal to the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank and also heads the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Hamas takeover of Gaza followed its win in Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 — the last time they were held. Hamas accused Abbas of conspiring against it. Abbas described what happened as a coup. Since then, there have been numerous rounds of conflict with Israel, often involving Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel and Israeli airstrikes and bombardment of Gaza.
