Israel has launched a « significant » operation in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday during testimony in court.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that “Gaza is burning” as the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it had started broader operations to destroy Hamas terror infrastructure in Gaza City.
Jerusalem “will not relent and we will not turn back until the mission is complete,” the defense minister declared.
“Gaza is burning,” Katz said. “The IDF strikes with an iron fist at the terror infrastructure, and IDF soldiers fight with courage to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
Col. Avichay Adraee, the head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, subsequently confirmed on X that the army “began destroying Hamas’s infrastructure in Gaza City.”
“Gaza City is considered a dangerous combat zone, and staying in the area puts you at risk,” Adraee added, urging Palestinians to join “the more than 40% of the city’s residents” who have already evacuated.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking as he departed Israel for Doha on Tuesday morning, also suggested that the IDF offensive to capture Gaza City had already started.
“The Israelis have begun to take operations there,” Rubio stated. “So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen.
“We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go,” Washington’s top diplomat continued.
“Our preference, our No. 1 choice, is that this ends through a negotiated settlement,” he added. “At some point, this has to end. At some point, Hamas has to be defanged, and we hope it can happen through a negotiation.
