Street fighting and Israel advances on two axes leading to Al-Shifa Hospital
Israeli forces advanced in two important axes towards Gaza City: north of the Beach Camp and south of the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, despite the fierce clashes that do not stop there, amid information that the Israeli army suffered losses in direct confrontations with Hamas fighters.
Sources in the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip told Asharq Al-Awsat that fierce clashes are taking place in every location where the Israeli army has penetrated, but the most fierce of them is taking place in the north of the Beach Camp and south of Tal Al-Hawa after the Israeli forces advanced there.
Israel is trying to reach the heart of Gaza City after it surrounded the city and took control of Salah al-Din and Al-Rashid Streets, thus cutting off all communication between the north and south of the Strip.
Israeli soldiers during their incursion into Gaza on Tuesday (Israeli Army – Reuters)
The sources said that the Israeli advance, and the focus on Al-Shati Camp and Tal Al-Hawa, indicate a desperate Israeli attempt to reach Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
Israel targets this hospital. Because, according to its claim, it includes the leadership center of Hamas and the Al-Qassam Brigades.
According to the sources, reaching Al-Shifa, if it happens, will be through Al-Shati Camp, and the tightening noose on it from the southern side through Tal Al-Hawa, which if bypassed means that the attacking forces will also reach Al-Quds Hospital and the Ansar Governmental Complex. Which includes offices for security headquarters.
Displaced people from northern to southern Gaza on Tuesday (AFP)
The Israeli army confirmed on Tuesday that it was “intensifying pressure on Gaza City,” killing Hamas field commanders, taking control of the movement’s stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip, and discovering and destroying more tunnels.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that ground forces were able to control the site in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, and found anti-tank missile launchers, missiles, various weapons, and intelligence materials.
The army also announced attacking targets using the Navy, which included sites for technological means, and targeting a number of militants holed up in a building near Al-Quds Hospital, from which they planned to launch an attack against Israeli forces, and destroying dozens of platforms for launching mortar shells.
Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza, the focus of the Israeli ground attack (AFP)
The Israeli advance in Gaza came at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his forces would assume security responsibility after the war in the Strip, without explaining what that meant. He said this evening that Gaza City has become under siege and “we are carrying out operations inside it,” stressing that “there is no ceasefire, and no fuel is allowed to enter Gaza without the release of the hostages.” He added that Lebanese Hezbollah “will make the biggest mistake” if it joins the war.
But Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that Israel is facing many days of fighting, at the end of which three goals will be achieved: “Hamas will not be a military and authoritarian framework in the Gaza Strip, and no threat from it will come to Israel, and the army will enjoy complete freedom of activity without restrictions on activating… Power”.
Bodies waiting to be buried in front of Al-Najjar Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday (dpa)
Gallant’s words indicate an open war against Hamas at any time.
On Tuesday, Gallant presented a review of the progress of the forces deep into the Strip and Gaza City to members of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in a session held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. He stressed that all security services focus on two things: winning the war and returning all the kidnapped people. He explained that Israel would hold accountable everyone who was involved in the attack on October 7, at the forefront of which was Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Then Gallant confirmed in a press conference that they would continue until victory over Hamas, and would not back down, and that Hamas would not rule Gaza after the war.
Israel also confirmed that it would not agree to a ceasefire without the release of all the kidnapped persons.
Hamas did not immediately respond to the statements of Netanyahu and Gallant, but it announced that it would continue to confront the Israeli forces, inflicting heavy losses on its ranks.
An Israeli howitzer during the bombing of the Gaza Strip on Monday (AFP)
The Al-Qassam Brigades, affiliated with Hamas, announced the destruction of 5 Israeli tanks, a troop carrier, and an Israeli bulldozer on the outskirts of Al-Shati Camp with “Al-Yassin 105” shells. It also said that it destroyed tanks and vehicles in other areas. It also announced that it bombed Beersheba, Tel Aviv, and concentrations of Israeli soldiers with missile attacks.
The Al-Qassam Brigades broadcast scenes showing the clash of its forces with the Israeli forces that penetrated northwest of Beit Lahia during the past two days, and the success of the resistance fighters in destroying a number of occupation vehicles. The scenes showed Al-Qassam fighters clashing closely with Israeli soldiers, using automatic rifles and missiles.
Regarding the issue of hostages, Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubaida said that they were about to release 12 detainees of foreign nationalities in Gaza a few days ago, but Israel obstructed that. Abu Ubaida confirmed that Al-Qassam is still ready to release these detainees, but the field situation and the Israeli attack prevent that.
As the fighting intensified, Israeli aircraft continued to bomb large areas of the Gaza Strip, and the army opened a corridor for Gazans to cross from north to south, but it was a corridor that Hamas authorities described as a corridor of death, despite Israel publishing video clips showing a remarkable displacement of residents from the north of the Gaza Strip towards its south.
The Israeli army announced again, on Tuesday, that it had opened Salah al-Din Street at specific times for Gazans to cross, but the Gaza authorities said that the army was killing them there.
Israeli aircraft bombed various areas in the Gaza Strip, killing dozens after wiping out an entire neighborhood in Deir al-Balah.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that at least 10,328 Palestinians, including 4,237 children, had been killed in Israeli strikes on the Strip since October 7.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said in a press conference that the number of injured people in Gaza has reached 25,956 since the start of the confrontations between Israel and Palestinian factions.
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2023-11-08 02:25:32
