Jerusalem
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Israel said it launched a widespread ground attack in Gaza city on Tuesday, contrary to international condemnation, as Palestinians fled the enclave’s biggest urban area in the waves amid escalating artillery bombardment.
Israeli officials said Israeli forces accelerated airstrikes and destruction of high towers last week, and Israeli officials said a long-standing invasion had begun on the outskirts of the city.
“Gaza is on fire,” Israeli Defense Minister Katz wrote Tuesday. He said the Israeli Defense Secretary (IDF) was “to surprise the terrifying infrastructure and working to ensure “hospitalization and Hamas’ defeat.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is at a “critical stage” of the war as it is attacking Gaza city.
The invasion has warned that parts of Gaza have been officially declared under hunger as the UN and others warn that the attacks will exacerbate an already tragic humanitarian crisis. Approximately one million people (almost half of the territory’s population) live in and around Gaza City. Israel has tried to force local people to evacuate, but the IDF says that so far only about 40% of the number CNN cannot independently confirm.
Despite international condemnations and concerns from his own security authorities, Netanyahu’s decision to advance the operation underscores his willingness to ignore global pressures to pursue war on his terms.
An independent UN investigation on Tuesday concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, finding, in part, civilians in the abused enclaves were “collectively targeted for their Palestinian identity.”
Israel said it “resolutely refuses distorted and false reports” as it called for the commission to be abolished.
Gaza city has largely avoided the fate of destroyed cities such as Rafa and Khan Eunice in almost two years of war, but now faces the same harsh prospects. More than 100 Palestinians were killed across the enclave on Tuesday in northern Gaza alone, according to Gaza Ministry and hospital authorities.
Gaza city residents were shaken by the night of a violent airstrike and carried the rest of their belongings as they tried to escape. CNN footage shows that there was a destroyed house in the city’s Sheikradwan district, some of which were completely flattened, and people carried bags and blankets via tile rubs in search of shelter further south.
The Israeli drone rang out overhead as locals told CNN that the overnight strike was some of the most intense they’ve seen in months.
Maysal Al Adwan, a native of Gaza city, carries a mattress and blankets over his head, causing him to sweat. He said he couldn’t sleep all night.
“Fear, fear, it’s all terrifying,” he told CNN. “An explosion on our heads, all day.”
The attack on Gaza city was only to begin after Israel evacuated the Palestinian population to the Almawasi region, according to the project’s plans approved in early August.
Israel is also set to expand the number of controversial US-backed aid facilities run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to a total of 16 sites. However, only about five people are open now, and in many cases Palestinians are forced to walk for hours to desperately seek the food and assistance they need.
Rawan Al Salmoni, a mother of four, sat on the sidewalk near a destroyed building in Gaza city, holding her toddler. She said she was mentally exhausted as she was repeatedly evacuated. She said she thought she would die from the latest gunfire.
“We told God, we’ll die here. That’s a miracle we left,” she said.
Across the central and northern Gaza, the Palestinians packed up what they could and fled in a desperate search for safety somewhere. This was not the first displacement for many. The crowd packed the coastal highway on Al Rashid Street as cars were barely busy and tried to move south along the road.
Standing on a pickup truck on Salah Al-Din Road, Ahmad Abul-Hal told CNN:
“Do you think we’re running away to go to a picnic? We run away from destruction and ruins. But we go from death to death. That’s not what we go from death to glory. The situation is as bad as possible.”
Volkar Tarq, the UN’s human rights director, called for the international community to prevent Israel from entering Gaza. “It is absolutely clear that this massacre has to stop, and it has to stop at once,” Türk told journalists on Tuesday. “It’s also important that the whole world screams for peace. What we’re seeing is further escalation, which is completely and completely unacceptable.”
Palestinian authorities (PA) have called for global intervention and have called for the United States to intervene. “The whole world will refuse to escalate and will lead to further tension and instability in the region in light of war crimes against humanity,” said PA spokesman Naeville Abu Rudain.
However, Israel has clear US support under the Trump administration, which is highlighted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Jerusalem, as it announced that Israel has launched this new attack. On Monday, Rubio demanded that Hamas release the remaining 48 hostages in Gaza and give up power even if such a result admits not.
“In the end, a brief military operation may be needed to eliminate them,” Rubio told reporters at a press conference standing with Netanyahu.
Hamas, meanwhile, called Gaza City a “unprecedented escalation of wild Zionists” that “violated all international norms and laws.”
Israeli military estimates there are up to 3,000 Hamas militants in Gaza city, military officials said Tuesday, but highlights the near-impossible work facing an IDF, which consists of less than 1% of local residents.
“We expect to see it in the battle between 2,000 and 3,000 Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” the official said. However, there is no clear mechanism to prevent those Hamas members from joining the Palestinian crowds refugeing south.
The Gaza city invasion may not be conclusive, and further operations may be ahead. “Gaza City is Hamas’ main hub at this time,” the official added. “I said main, but not the last one.”
