Israel announces ground offensive on Gaza City

BarcelonaThe battle for the capital of Gaza has begun. The Israeli army announced this Tuesday the start of the ground offensive on Gaza City. Two divisions began deploying throughout the city, following an intense night of bombing. The military claims to now control 40% of the territory, that they are in a position to take the capital, and that they will expand their operations in the coming days, in accordance with the plan ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A third division is besieging the city. Israel has issued a new recruitment of reservists, who are to be mobilized by the first quarter of next year.

It has not gotten dark tonight. The Israeli army's flares and the flashes of explosions have not stopped: the Israeli army is intensifying its final assault on the Gaza capital. Benjamin Netanyahu's government has ordered its generals, against their own judgment, to occupy the city before next October 7, the second anniversary of the Palestinian attacks of 2023. The evacuation orders issued by the military to the population have been merely a legal cover: there is literally no room left in southern Gaza to accommodate the million Palestinians surviving in the capital. According to the UN, only 142,000 people left the city in compliance with the forced displacement orders. The rest They have not been able – or have not wanted – to leave, knowing that there is no safe place in the entire Strip and that conditions in the evacuation zone, which has also been bombed by Israeli aircraft, are terrifying.

Entering the courthouse to testify in his corruption trial, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was again accused of genocide on Tuesday by a UN commission of inquiry, declared that they have "begun a powerful operation in Gaza City" and has therefore requested that the hearing be postponed.

The offensive has focused on the Al Shati refugee camp and the neighborhoods of Tel al Hawa, Al Daraj, Al Maghribi, Al Sabra, Sheikh Radwan, and Al Karama. According to Israeli officials, this is the "initial phase" of the ground invasion. Israeli military sources assure that the armored vehicles advanced to the center of the capital, although they carry out incursions and then withdraw. The army spokesman has declared that the city is a "dangerous combat zone." So far, the death toll for the Gaza authorities has risen to 41 overnight, the majority in the capital.