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Israeli troops have entered Gaza City and are trying to “encircle” it from multiple directions, Israel’s top military commander said, describing it as the next phase of Israel’s ground offensive in the besieged enclave.
Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff, said the Israel Defense Forces had “advanced to another significant step” in its ground operation against Hamas. “In recent days, IDF soldiers have been deployed in Gaza City, surrounding the city from several directions. We are deepening our invasion.”
Satellite images and reports on social media showed Israeli tanks massing near the coast in northern Gaza, with reinforcements entering the strip from Israel to the northeast, while additional tank columns headed south from Gaza City toward the sea.
Israel has stepped up air and ground operations against targets in Gaza, even as allies including US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a “pause” in hostilities to free hostages held by Hamas.
Israel has attacked Gaza at least 10,000 times since Hamas’ bloody rampage through southern Israel on October 7, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Palestinian health authorities said nearly 200 people were killed in airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Israeli military said it targeted a senior commander in an attack on Wednesday evening, but denied hitting a school in the area.
Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 9,025 people, according to Palestinian officials. According to Israeli officials, Hamas’ attack on Israel left 1,400 people dead and 242 hostages returned to Gaza. Israeli officials said 18 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israeli forces began their ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions also remain high on Israel’s border with Lebanon. Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters said they fired two drones loaded with explosives into a disputed area called Shebaa Farms, currently occupied by Israel. It was the first time the Iran-backed group claimed to have used explosive drones against Israel.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Hamas militants fired rockets at Israeli communities near the border, hitting a building in the town of Kiryat Shmona. Israel responded with a cross-border airstrike.
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Biden’s call for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas did not constitute a call for a full ceasefire, which the White House has opposed. However, U.S. officials have said in recent days that they would consider supporting a temporary cessation of hostilities if it were limited to supporting humanitarian efforts.
About 300 aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza since the war began, compared to more than 400 the day before the war began. Biden has repeatedly asked the Israelis to provide more aid, saying Wednesday that the relief effort “still has a long way to go.”
The Israeli government said the humanitarian situation in Gaza remained manageable, despite the United Nations and others reporting widespread shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
“The scale of the suffering and the unsanitary living conditions were unimaginable,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, the main aid agency for Palestinian refugees, after a visit to Gaza on Wednesday. “Everyone just asked for water and food.”
Biden said he understood the “emotions” the conflict evoked on all sides. “This is incredibly complicated for the Israelis. It’s incredibly complicated for the Muslim world too,” he said. “I supported a two-state solution; I did that from the beginning.”
Western diplomats said more foreign nationals and some wounded Palestinians were waiting to leave the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border. Almost 400 were allowed to leave on Wednesday and 61 relief trucks were allowed to enter.
Hamas’s proposed withdrawal list on Thursday included the names of about 600 foreigners, including about 400 U.S. citizens. About 74 Americans were able to leave, Biden said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East this week, starting with Israel on Friday, for a new round of diplomatic talks on the conflict.