Israel expands ground operation in Gaza as pressure grows for ceasefire
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Palestinians inspect the remains of their homes destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Maghazi, central Gaza, on Monday, Photo: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Israeli military expanded its ground operation in Gaza on Tuesday to the area between Gaza City and Khan Younes, the Israeli Defense Forces said.
The big picture: This is one of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip where several refugee camps are located.
- The Israeli military has been bombarding the area with strikes. Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza said over the weekend that an Israeli strike killed more than 70 people in the Maghazi refugee camp.
- More than 20,900 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave.
- Israeli officials have warned the war will likely last for a long time. But the IDF push into this area is likely the last major effort in the high-intensity phase of the fighting, which Israeli officials have said is expected to be completed by the end of January.
- Israel has said its goal is to bring all hostages held by militants home and to destroy Hamas, whose militants killed at least 1,200 people during the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli officials.
Driving the news: The IDF said its forces started operating in the al-Bureij refugee camp to defeat Hamas militants in the central camps.
- Earlier in the war, the IDF said it killed the commander of the Hamas central camps brigade in an airstrike.
State of play: The IDF is in control of most of northern Gaza, though some fighting continues in several neighborhoods.
- IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi claimed on Tuesday that the IDF is close to completing the dismantling of Hamas' battalions in the northern Gaza Strip.
- Fighting also continues in the southern city of Khan Younes where the IDF's elite division 98 is focused on going after Hamas leaders that Israeli intelligence believes are hiding in the city.
- More Palestinians continue to flee to the overcrowded southern city of Rafah where hundreds of thousands had already evacuated to escape Israel's bombardment and ground offensive.
What they're saying: "Currently, we are concentrating our efforts in the southern Gaza Strip – Khan Younes, the central camps, and further…It is taking place in a complex area," Halevi said on Tuesday.
- "Therefore, the war will continue for many more months, and we will operate in various ways – so that the achievement will be preserved over time," he added.
- Halevi stressed Israel will get to the Hamas leadership, "whether it takes a week or months."
Zoom in: The IDF's push comes amid growing international pressure for a ceasefire, as the humanitarian conditions in the enclave continue to significantly worsen.
- The UN Security Council last week approved a resolution that stopped short of calling for a suspension of the hostilities but it did call "for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses" and "urgent steps" to be taken to immediately allow "safe and unhindered humanitarian access" to Gaza and to create "conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities."
- A recent UN-backed report said Gaza's entire population — more than 2.2 million people — is facing crisis or worse levels of hunger, with the risk of famine increasing every day as Israel's ground offensive and bombardment of the enclave continues.
Go deeper: Top Bibi confidant expected in D.C. for talks on next phase of Gaza war
