Israel’s Defense Minister stated this Saturday that “the ground shook in Gaza” and that the war against the leaders of the Palestinian enclave, the Islamist group Hamas, has entered a new stage.
“We have moved on to the next stage of the war,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in statements published this Saturday by Israeli media.
“In the last night [sexta-feira], the ground shook in Gaza. We attack above and below the ground. (…) The instructions for the forces are clear. The campaign will continue until further notice.”
His statements mark the gradual acceleration towards a possible all-out ground offensive in northern Gaza.
Gallant said Friday that Israel expects a long and difficult ground offensive in Gaza soon.
“It will take a long time” to dismantle Hamas’s vast tunnel network, he said, adding that he expects a long phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “pockets of resistance.”
This Saturday, Israel expanded its ground operation in Gaza, sending tanks and infantry supported by massive air and sea strikes.
The Israeli bombings from Friday night to Saturday were described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war and, in addition, communications in the enclave were also interrupted.
This led to the isolation of much of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants, while allowing the Israeli army to control the narrative in a new phase of the fighting.
The Israeli military on Saturday released blurry images showing columns of tanks moving slowly through open areas of Gaza, apparently near the border, and said warplanes had bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers. The underground sites are a key target in Israel’s campaign to exterminate Hamas, following its bloody incursion into Israel three weeks ago.
At the start of the war, Israel had already massed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border. Until now, the troops had made brief nighttime ground raids before returning to Israel.
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza this Saturday rose to more than 7,700 people since October 7, with 377 deaths reported since Friday, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health. Most of the dead were women and children, the same source stated.
Hamas Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told reporters that the communications disruption had “completely paralyzed” the health network.
Residents had no way to call ambulances and emergency crews followed the sounds of artillery and airstrikes in search of people who needed help.
More than 1.4 million people have fled their homes, almost half are crammed into United Nations schools and shelters.
Aid workers say the amount of aid Israel allowed into the enclave through Egypt last week is a small fraction of what is needed. Hospitals in Gaza have been searching for fuel to power emergency generators, which power incubators and other vital equipment.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen, taking two hundred hostages.
In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, a movement that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as terrorist by the European Union and the United States, bombing several of the group’s infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and imposing a total siege. to the territory with a cut in the supply of water, fuel and electricity.
In the Hamas attack on Israel, more than 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 200 were taken hostage.
Source: TSF
