Israel’s ground offensive expanded to every part of the Gaza Strip, its military said Sunday, as it ordered more evacuations and vowed to hit south Gaza with „no less strength“ than the fight that has reduced large parts of north Gaza to a moonscape
Israel’s ground offensive expanded to every part of the Gaza Strip, its military said Sunday, as it ordered more evacuations and vowed to hit south Gaza with „no less strength“ than the fight that has reduced large parts of north Gaza to a moonscape.
Heavy bombardment followed the evacuation orders, and Palestinians in the sealed-off territory bordering Israel and Egypt said they were running out of places to go.
Many of Gaza’s 2.3 million people fled to the south after Israel ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the war, which was sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in Israel that killed about 1,200, mostly civilians.
After dark, gunfire and shelling were heard in the central town of Deir al-Balah as flares lit the sky. Israeli drones buzzed overhead in Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk urged an end to the war, saying civilian suffering was „too much to bear.“
In the video player above: Israel launches Iron Dome interceptors as sirens warn of incoming rockets over central Tel Aviv.
Residents said the military dropped leaflets calling Khan Younis „a dangerous combat zone“ and ordering them to move to the border city of Rafah or a coastal area in the southwest.
Halima Abdel-Rahman, a widow and mother of four, said she’s stopped heeding such orders. She fled her home in October to an area outside Khan Younis, where she stays with relatives.
„The occupation tells you to go to this area, then they bomb it,“ she said by phone. „The reality is that no place is safe in Gaza. They kill people in the north. They kill people in the south.“
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the territory since Oct. 7 has surpassed 15,500, with more than 41,000 wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but said 70% of the dead were women and children.
A Health Ministry spokesman asserted that hundreds had been killed or wounded since a weeklong cease-fire ended Friday. „The majority of victims are still under the rubble,“ Ashraf al-Qidra said.
Hopes for another temporary truce in Gaza faded as Israel called its negotiators home, and senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said talks on releasing further more hostages must be tied to a permanent cease-fire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will continue until „all its goals“ are achieved. One is to remove Hamas from power in Gaza.
