Israeli forces have entered the outskirts of Gaza City in Palestine. The tanks entered the Salahuddin road on Monday with the help of airstrikes and shelling. At this time fierce fighting started with Palestinian armed organizations including Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have killed more than 8,300 people in Gaza in the last 24 days. Most of the dead Palestinians were women and children.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered Zaitoun district from the south of Gaza City on Monday. With it, the Salahuddin Road was dug and the northern part of Gaza was separated from the southern part.
At that time, when any vehicle was going to move on that road, shelling was fired from the tank. Palestinian health authorities said three people were killed. A resident, who did not want to be named, said that the Israeli forces had cut the Salahuddin road and made it impassable.
More than 1 million Palestinians live in northern Gaza. They were asked to leave the area several times by Israeli forces. Large numbers of residents have left northern Gaza in the past few days. However, thousands of residents are still believed to remain there.
Israeli forces launched a large-scale ground operation in Gaza last Friday. More troops were sent there the next day. Then yesterday Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of Gaza City. Israeli forces entered Gaza about two kilometers from the north. Israeli snipers can be seen taking positions in various buildings destroyed by airstrikes.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a regular briefing yesterday that the scope of ground operations is increasing.
Meanwhile, the military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, said that a fierce battle is going on with the Israeli troops who have entered Gaza. The head of the Hamas government in Gaza also claimed that the Israeli tanks that entered the Salahuddin road were forced to retreat.
In a statement sent by Salama Maruf, director of the Information Office, it was said that there was no way to advance in the residential areas of the Gaza Strip. A few tanks and bulldozers of the occupying forces penetrated the Salahuddin road.
The tanks attacked two civilian private cars on Salahuddin Road before the resistance fighters retaliated and drove them back, the statement said. Currently, there are no armored vehicles of the occupying forces on this road. Road traffic has returned to normal.
Israel's indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling in Gaza since October 7 have killed 8,306 people, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said yesterday. Among them 3 thousand 457 children and 2 thousand 136 women. In addition, there are 480 elderly people. 119 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank.
Apart from this, as many as 1 thousand 950 people are missing, of whom 1 thousand 50 are children. Most of the missing people are buried under the rubble of houses destroyed in the attack. Due to the magnitude of the devastation, the rescue workers are emphasizing on rescuing the injured rather than the dead.
1,405 people have been killed in Israel since the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7. More than three hundred soldiers were killed. In addition, Hamas fighters have kept more than two hundred Israelis hostage in Gaza to free their prisoners. Several of these hostages have dual citizenship.
'Criminal obstruction of relief'
Signs of devastation are now everywhere in Gaza due to Israel's relentless airstrikes and shelling. Roads are battered and rubble of collapsed buildings. Fear and desperation to survive among people.
53-year-old Ibrahim Shandogli moved south from Jabalia in northern Gaza to save his life. When asked why he came here despite the bombings in the south, he said, "You tell me where we will go?" The whole area is at risk.
Another resident who moved south was Itidal al-Masri. Even after coming to the border town of Rafah, this woman is suffering from shortage of food, water and medicine.
"In Gaza, residents now have to stand in line for bread, to go to the toilet and even to sleep," Masri said.
Yesterday Sunday, the people who lacked food became desperate. The United Nations said hundreds of thousands of people flocked to UN-run relief centers for food, flour and oil. This creates chaos.
Aid agencies say Gaza needs 100 trucks a day. The Israeli blockade has forced residents of Gaza to rely on aid. But since the start of the conflict, Israel has been blocking the delivery of relief. Over the past 24 days, only a hundred aid trucks have been able to enter Gaza.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan warned Israel on Sunday, "Obstructing the provision of relief recognized in the Geneva Convention can be considered a crime within the jurisdiction of the court."
So far, at least 47 mosques have been destroyed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Seven churches were also attacked. The government authorities of Gaza reported this information. Apart from this, 203 school buildings have been attacked there in the last three weeks. 80 government offices were destroyed.
Salama Maruf, director of the Information Office, also said that 220,000 houses were damaged by the Israeli bombardment. At least 32,000 residential buildings have been completely destroyed.
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