Israel on Wednesday said its forces have reached the “heart of Gaza City” as the campaign to crush Hamas for its October terror attacks continues in the besieged Palestinian territory for over a month.
Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas after a surprise attack by their operatives on border towns killed at least 1,400 people. A counterattack is on since then with Israeli forces fighting the group inside Gaza alongside heavy aerial attacks that have killed over 10,000 in the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s ground forces are now locating and destroying the vast tunnel network built by the Hamas beneath the besieged enclave. A top military spokesperson said their combat engineering corps were using explosives to destroy a tunnel network that stretches for hundreds of kilometres.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, that it will be a mistake on its part if its choses to join the war. In a televised address marking a month of the war, he said no fuel will be delivered to Gaza unless Hamas releases those held hostage across the border, and also ruled out any ceasefire until then.
Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday underlined Israel’s determination “to destroy Hamas” and said their forces are in the “heart of the Gaza City.” “Gaza is the largest terrorist base ever built,” he said.
A Red Cross convoy carrying lifesaving medical supplies came under attack in Gaza City yesterday. Five of its trucks and two other vehicles were part of the convoy. Two trucks were damaged and a driver was injured in the attack, it said without specifying who had fired at the convoy. The convoy then changed its route and reached Al-Shifa hospital to deliver the supplies, Red Cross said.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said one of its employees and several members of his family had been killed after his Gaza home in a refugee camp collapsed due to bombing. “It is clear that no place in Gaza is safe from brutal and indiscriminate bombing,” said the group.
Israel has vowed to assume “overall security” in Gaza after the war ends and allow “tactical pauses” before then for releasing hostages and delivering aid. But the US has opposed any such long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza and said the Palestinians must be at the forefront of decision-making in the Strip. “We do not support reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel,” the US said.
Israel’s intensified military operations in the Gaza Strip has sharply heightened fears for the 2.4 million inhabitants with the UN rights chief saying the past month was marked by “carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair”.
Gazans are going through immense suffering with entire city blocks reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes. Surgeons worked to save lives under phone flashlights. An average of 160 children are killed every day in Gaza by the war, according to the World Health Organization.
US said over 400 of its citizens have left Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt while hundreds of Palestinians holding foreign passports waited for their turn to leave. Yesterday was the fifth day when the Rafah crossing opened in the past week to wounded Palestinians, foreigners and dual nationals.