The Israeli military has launched a large-scale ground operation across the Gaza Strip over the weekend as part of a major new offensive against Hamas.
“Over the past day, IDF troops in the Southern Command, both the standing army and reserves, began a broad ground operation throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip, as part of the start of Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
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So far, the IDF claims to have killed “dozens of terrorists” and dismantled many of Hamas’ bases above and below ground.
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The new wave of airstrikes killed at least 103 people, including children, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, whose estimates do not differentiate between civilians and terrorists.
Seven children and one woman were among those killed in a strike by the Jabaliya refugee camp, according to Gaza’s emergency services.
The heavy bombardments also forced northern Gaza’s main operational medical facility, the Indonesian Hospital, to shut down, with the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza reporting another 48 deaths after a bomb hit shelters in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military blamed the civilian casualties on Hamas over the group’s practice of operating in residential areas.
The IDF said the weekend assault will allow the military to seize vast territory across the Gaza Strip after taking control of nearly half the Palestinian enclave last month.
The Israeli military blamed the civilian casualties on Hamas over the group’s practice of operating in residential areas. AP
The large-scale occupation plan would cause hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to relocate yet again to other parts of the war-torn enclave.
The renewed incursion occurred as negotiations were heating up in Qatar over the 58 hostages who remain in Hamas custody.
Israel has reiterated that it will use military pressure to secure the hostages’ release and the destruction of Hamas. 330
The terror group, however, maintains that no hostage will be freed unless both sides agree to a cease-fire and lay the groundwork for an end to the war, which has raged on for more than 19 months.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to discussing an end to the war, but only on the condition that Hamas demilitarize and exit Gaza forever, which the terror group has slammed as a non-starter.
