Gaza burns as Israel bombards Hamas’ stronghold, moves to take control of Gaza city
Reports say that Israel has heavily bombarded targets in Gaza city overnight, with unconfirmed reports from the Jerusalem Post stating that the Israeli military has now launched its ground offensive in its campaign to decimate the Hamas terrorist organization, take control of Gaza city and free the remaining Israeli hostages.
The intensification came following a long-announced full-scale ground operation in Gaza by the Israeli military. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had assured the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unwavering US support while visiting Jerusalem on Monday.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) early Tuesday morning, Israel Katz, Israel’s Defence Minister wrote: “Gaza is burning. Israel will not relent and we will not go back – until the completion of the mission.”
Israel had earlier warned Gaza city residents to leave the city and head south. According to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) about 250,000 Palestinians have fled. Reports say that Hamas is threatening the residents to stay back in Gaza.
Israeli Military had earlier said that Hamas terrorists while hiding underground in their tunnels, tell the citizens to remain above ground, in order to use them as human shield against Israeli strikes.
According to unconfirmed reports, some residents said southern Gaza is not safe and are therefore not leaving Gaza city, while some who have attempted to go south said they were unable to pitch their tents.
Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
There have been conflicted figures by Hamas and the State of Israel as to the number of Palestinian casualties since Israel launched its campaign to decimate the Hamas terrorist organization which masterminded the October 7 attack.
The United Nations has however warned that an intensification of the offensive by Israel will push civilians into “deeper catastrophe”.
Israel said that civilians have been warned beforehand to evacuate the bombardment zone to a safer area of the strip in the south of Gaza.
