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Israel and Hamas fought on the streets of Gaza on Tuesday, with the conflict turning into urban warfare after more than three weeks of air strikes hammering the besieged enclave.
Gaza's interior ministry said Israeli forces are in the north-west of the city, while the Israeli military said its ground forces are “deep in the Gaza Strip” and have struck 300 Hamas targets, including their compounds inside underground tunnels.
Palestinian spokesman Iyad Al Bazm said Israeli tanks are currently in the Al Karama area and on the major Salah Al Din Street and are attempting to reach Al Rashid Street, all in the north-west, in a bid to “separate Gaza's north and south”.
Israel has been threatening Hamas with a “ground invasion” since October 7 while expanding its daily bombardment by land and air. On Saturday, it said it was expanding its ground operations with infantry and armoured corps after entering northern Gaza overnight.
Tuesday's street fighting marks the biggest ground escalation since the beginning of the war and comes after a constant bombardment campaign that has claimed the lives of more than 8,500 Palestinians and a tightened siege that has deprived its two million residents of water, fuel, and aid, a move condemned by the United Nations.
Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, said it targeted an Israeli tank penetrating east of the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood with an Al-Yassin 105 shell, setting it on fire, and an Israeli bulldozer and a military vehicle after they entered a building where their men were based in Beit Hanoun.
The Palestinian faction also claimed a strike against Israel's Nevatim air force base with a missile barrage.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said its forces have been fighting “deep in the Gaza Strip”.
“In recent hours, combined forces, led by ground forces, have been conducting fierce battles deep in the territory of the Gaza Strip … forces attacked a Hamas terrorist outpost in the north of the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Israeli army claimed that it attacked Hamas militants inside the vast tunnel network underneath Gaza without clarifying if the soldiers entered any of the tunnels.
In a statement it said that over the past day its combined combat forces “struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
Militants responded with anti-tank missiles and machinegun fire, it added.
“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure.”
The vast labyrinth of tunnels built beneath densely populated Gaza and used for smuggling and incursions into Israel by Hamas fighters, is considered the biggest security threat to the Israeli army.
Yocheved Lifshitz, an 85-year-old woman taken hostage by Hamas and released, had described being made to walk for “kilometres” through a “spider’s web of tunnels”.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said its forces had eliminated the commander of the Beit Lahia battalion in Hamas’ Northern Brigade who was responsible for October 7 attacks targeting Kibbutz Erez and Moshav Netiv Ha’Asarah.
“Our offensive operations will continue and intensify according to plan,” he said.
He said an aerial threat that was targeted at Eilat, in southern Israel, on Tuesday morning had been detected.
“There is no threat posed to the area. I repeat, there is no threat in this area, and there is no danger. We have a strong defensive posture in the southern area in all dimensions,” said Admiral Hagari.
Despite mounting global calls for a humanitarian pause, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not agree to a ceasefire. The UAE mission to the UN on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict.
“We need a ceasefire in the Gaza war now,” Lana Nusseibeh, ambassador and permanent representative of the UAE to the UN, told a Security Council meeting.
In Lebanon, where clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah-supported armed groups have been intensifying over recent weeks, the Israeli military spokesperson said its fighter jets had carried out overnight strikes and “destroyed infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation”.
The Israeli military “maintains a very high level of readiness, remains on high alert and is deployed both along the border and throughout the northern communities”, Admiral Hagari said.
240 hostages under Hamas custody
Israel has revised the number of hostages being held in Gaza to 240 – up from the previous figure of 230.
Admiral Hagari said the increase was due to further captives being identified. All 240 families have been notified, he added.
“Identification is complex. Some of the hostages are not Israeli citizens, and the process is complex,” he said.
He also said that the families of 315 Israeli soldiers killed in fighting since the Israel-Gaza war began have been notified of their deaths.
Ori Megidish, an Israeli soldier taken hostage by Hamas militants, was rescued during a ground raid in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to a joint statement from the military and the Shin Bet intelligence service.
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A girl is rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. AP Photo -
An Apache helicopter fires flares, seen from Sderot in southern Israel, close to the border with Gaza. Reuters -
Palestinians plug their phones into portable charging stations on a street in Khan Younis, Gaza. Bloomberg -
Residents search survivors among the rubble following Israeli strikes on Jabalia, northern Gaza. EPA -
Palestinians search for survivors and bodies following Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in Gaza. AP -
Palestinians look for survivors among the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. AP -
Palestinians look for survivors among the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. AP -
A fire burns in western Gaza after an Israeli air strike. Reuters -
Missiles are fired from Israel towards the Gaza Strip. Getty Images -
Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza. Getty Images -
A group of men survey the destruction following air strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city, as Israeli forces entered the northern area of the Gaza Strip. AFP -
A man drives a damaged car following air strikes on Gaza city. AFP -
A man pushes a bicycle past the remains of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
A woman and children walk past a house destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
People dig through the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
A man drives a damaged car past a building destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
People gather amid the destruction following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
Wrecked vehicles and rubble on the streets following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
Smoke rises from the northern Gaza Strip as Israeli air and ground forces amplified their military activities against Hamas. EPA -
An Israeli Apache attack helicopter flies close to the border with the Gaza Strip, near Israel's southern city of Ashkelon. AFP -
Israeli soldiers in an armoured personnel carrier on patrol near Israel's border with Gaza. EPA -
The crew of an Israeli tank prepare for ground operations near the border with Gaza. EPA -
Israeli soldiers prepare for ground manoeuvres at an undisclosed location in Israel near the border with Gaza. EPA -
The ruins of northern Gaza seen from Sderot in southern Israel. EPA -
Smoke and explosions caused by Israeli bombardment over northern Gaza. AP Photo -
An explosion on the Israel-Gaza border. Reuters -
A video grab shows fireballs and smoke rising above Gaza city following an Israeli attack. AFP -
An explosion in Gaza seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters -
A video grab shows rockets fired from Gaza city. AFP -
Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. AP Photo -
A video grab shows a salvo of rockets fired from Gaza city. AFP -
A flare trail fired by the Israeli army east of Khan Younis on the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Smoke from the bombing of the Gaza Strip over the Israeli border city of Ashkelon. AFP -
Flares over Gaza as seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters
