Israel's Katz boasts Gaza City 'is burning' as army begins ground invasion
Israel's Katz boasts Gaza City 'is burning' as army begins ground invasion
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the army announced the start of a ground invasion in Gaza City on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the launch of "a powerful operation in Gaza" that began last night, saying that Israel is at "a crucial stage".
The military said that three of its divisions - 98, 162 and 36 - are taking part in the launch of the ground manoeuvre, dubbed Gideon's Chariots 2.
"The forces of the Gaza Division (143) are operating in the security zone opposite the towns of the western Negev, and are carrying out offensive operations in the areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, while the forces of the 99th Division are operating in the northern Gaza Strip," it said.
Ahead of the renewed operation in the city, heavy Israeli bombardment was reported across north and central Gaza Strip overnight, with over 50 Palestinians killed since dawn.
The deadly assault was met with celebration in Israel, as Defence Minister Israel Katz exclaimed that "Gaza [City] is burning."
"The IDF is striking the terror infrastructure with an iron fist... We will not relent and we will not back down, until the mission is completed."
Israel's genocide in Gaza has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians and levelled most of the enclave's towns and cities.
The latest Israeli military plan, which killed over 1,890 people in Gaza City since last month, is aimed at ethnically cleansing the northern city of its residents and occupying it.
So far, the Israeli army made claims that 40 percent of the city's residents have fled, estimating that around 600,000 people remain.
Meanwhile, the director general of health in Gaza said that nearly one million Palestinians remain steadfast in Gaza City, despite intense pressure from the Israeli army.
The seizure of Gaza City is part of a wider plan to completely occupy the besieged enclave.
Displacement risks Palestinian lives
With most of the blockaded Strip now designated as Israeli militarised zones, subject to expulsion orders, or both, the population faces severe threats from worsening famine, the spread of disease, and increasingly harsh living conditions.
Tess Ingram, a Unicef spokesperson, said on Tuesday that it was "inhumane" to expect hundreds of thousands of "battered and traumatised" children to leave Gaza City as camps further south were unsafe, overcrowded and ill-equipped to receive them.
Over the weekend, the World Food Programme said that forced displacement from Gaza City "exhaust families' resources and disrupt their last lifelines."
"Without safe, sustained access, the risk of worsening hunger grows - especially for children," it added.
Displaced Palestinians have told Reuters that the conditions are so desperate in camps further south that some people who fled Israel's new offensive on famine-struck Gaza City in recent days are heading back towards the falling bombs.
Senior Israeli security officials have also warned that the army will have difficulty providing essential humanitarian infrastructure and necessities for the nearly two million estimated Palestinians who are expected to move towards Israeli-designated so-called "safe zones", Haaretz reported.
Overcrowding, which will worsen as tens of thousands of Palestinians are displaced from north and central Gaza, could lead to an outbreak of diseases and chaos amongst civilians.
Since the beginning of its genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israel cut off water and electricity, bombed internet infrastructure, and blocked fuel and aid from entering the besieged enclave.
As a result, the Gaza Strip has been pushed into a state of famine, with its 2.2 million residents enduring severe malnutrition and dehydration.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza recorded three new deaths as a result of starvation over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of famine-related deaths to 428, including 146 children.
On Tuesday, the UN’s top investigative body on Palestine and Israel ruled that Israel is guilty of the crime of genocide in Gaza, in the most authoritative pronouncement to date.
