Gaza braces for new Israel attack

AFP | Jerusalem

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The Israeli military said yesterday that it had approved the framework for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas condemned what it called “aggressive” Israeli ground incursions in Gaza City.

The approved plan for the expanded offensive comes days after Israel’s security cabinet called for the capture of the Palestinian territory’s largest city following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions.

Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir “approved the main framework for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip”, a statement released by the army said.

Timetable

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter Gaza City, where thousands have taken refuge after fleeing previous offensives.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas media office in Gaza, told AFP yesterday that “the Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City”.

“These assaults represent a dangerous escalation aimed at imposing a new reality on the ground by force, through a scorched-earth policy and the complete destruction of civilian property,” he added.

Explosions

Sabah Fatoum, 51, who lives in a tent in the city’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood told AFP by phone that “the explosions are massive” in the area.

There are “many air strikes and tanks are advancing in the southern area of Tal al-Hawa with drones above our heads”, she said.

Abu Ahmed Abbas, 46, who lives in a tent in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, said that tanks had been advancing into the southeastern part of Zeitoun and southern Tal al-Hawa “for several days” and demolishing houses.

“The air strikes are extremely intense, they have intensified, and sometimes there is artillery shelling since last Sunday,” he said.

Air strikes

Gaza’s civil defence agency also reported intensified Israeli air strikes on residential neighbourhoods of Gaza City in recent days.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli attacks had killed at least 75 people across the territory yesterday.

AFP footage from Gaza City on Tuesday showed Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes on the Zeitoun and Asqoola neighbourhoods using overloaded carts, vans and bikes.