The Israeli military said its ground forces were operating against Hamas across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, what is being seen as the start of a planned ground offensive in the enclave’s south. The Israeli military earlier ordered people to evacuate some areas in and near the city, but did not announce any new southern ground assault.
The Hamas Palestinian militant group said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops about 2 km from the southern city of Khan Younis. Residents, many of whom had moved there to flee earlier attacks in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, said they could hear tank fire and feared a new Israeli ground offensive was building.
The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) continues to extend its ground operation against Hamas centres in all of the Gaza Strip,” spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv. “The forces are coming face-to-face with terrorists and killing them.”
ANOTHER GROUND OFFENSIVE
Gaza residents said earlier on Sunday they feared an Israeli ground offensive on the southern areas was imminent. Tanks had cut off the road between Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, effectively dividing the Gaza Strip into three.
The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate several areas in and around Khan Younis. It posted a map highlighting shelters they should go to west of Khan Younis and south toward Rafah, on the border with Egypt. Many residents started packing but said that areas they had been told to go to were themselves coming under attack.
The Israeli military said on Sunday its war planes and helicopters had struck Hamas targets including tunnel shafts, command centres and weapons storage facilities. Naval forces had hit Hamas vessels on the coast, it said. The military declined to give figures on the number of air strikes carried out.
BOMBING IN KHAN YOUNIS AND RAFAH
The Jabalia refugee camp in the north of Hamas-ruled Gaza was among the sites reported hit from the air. A Gazan health ministry spokesperson said several people were killed by an Israeli air strike. Bombardments from warplanes and artillery were also concentrated on Khan Younis and Rafah, another city in Gaza’s south. Israel’s government spokesperson, Eylon Levy, said the military had struck more than 400 targets over the weekend “including extensive aerial attacks in the Khan Younis area” and had also killed Hamas militants and destroyed their infrastructure in Beit Lahiya in the north.
