Israeli forces battle Hamas around Gaza City, as military says 800,000 have fled south | CityNews Calgary

Israeli troops battled Hamas militants and attacked underground compounds on Tuesday with a deal with northern Gaza, from which an estimated 800,000 Palestinians have fled south regardless of continued Israeli bombardment throughout the besieged enclave.

Buoyed by the primary profitable rescue of a captive held by Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected requires a cease-fire and once more vowed to crush Hamas’ potential to control Gaza or threaten Israel following its bloody Oct. 7 rampage, which ignited the warfare.

More than half the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians have fled their houses, with tons of of 1000’s sheltering in packed U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or in hospitals alongside 1000’s of wounded sufferers. Israeli strikes have hit nearer to a number of northern hospitals in current days, alarming medics.

The U.N. company for Palestinian refugees, referred to as UNRWA, says practically 672,000 Palestinians are sheltering in its faculties and different amenities — 4 occasions their capability. Thousands of individuals broke into its assist warehouses over the weekend to take meals, as provides of primary items have dwindled due to the Israeli siege.

There has been no central electrical energy in Gaza for weeks, and Israel has barred the entry of gasoline wanted to energy emergency turbines for hospitals and houses.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini accused Israel of “collective punishment” of the Palestinians, and of forcing their displacement from northern Gaza to the south, the place they’re nonetheless not secure.

The company, which tons of of 1000’s of individuals in Gaza depend on for primary providers even in regular occasions, says 64 of its workers have been killed for the reason that begin of the warfare, together with a person killed alongside his spouse and eight kids in a strike late Monday.

“This is the highest number ever of U.N. aid workers killed in any conflict around the world in such a short time,” spokesperson Juliette Touma advised The Associated Press. “UNRWA will never be the same without these colleagues.”

The warfare has additionally threatened to ignite even heavier preventing on different fronts. Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group have traded fireplace each day alongside the border, and Israel and the U.S. have struck targets in Syria linked to Iran, which helps Hamas, Hezbollah and different armed teams within the area.

The navy stated it shot down a drone outdoors Israeli airspace on Tuesday close to the Red Sea metropolis of Eilat, with out offering additional particulars. Earlier this month, a U.S. Navy destroyer within the Red Sea intercepted three cruise missiles and a number of other drones launched towards Israel by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In the occupied West Bank, the place Israeli-Palestinian violence has additionally surged, the military demolished the household dwelling of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official exiled over a decade in the past. Ali Kaseeb, head of the native council within the village of Aroura, stated the house had been vacant for 15 years.

Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli navy spokesman, stated floor operations in Gaza are centered on the north, together with Gaza City, which he stated was the “center of gravity of Hamas.”

“But we also continue to strike in other parts of Gaza. We are hunting their commanders, we are attacking their infrastructure, and whenever there is an important target that is related to Hamas, we strike it,” he stated.

The navy stated it struck some 300 militant targets over the previous day, together with compounds inside tunnels, and that troops had engaged in a number of battles with Palestinian militants armed with antitank missiles and machine weapons.

Hamas launched its personal video exhibiting what it stated was a battle in northern Gaza on Sunday. A fighter sporting a GoPro-style digital camera emerged from a tunnel with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and ran throughout sand dunes and shrubs with different militants amid the clatter of gunfire.

It was not attainable to independently verify the experiences.

Larger floor operations have been launched each north and east of Gaza City, which earlier than the warfare was dwelling to over 650,000 folks.

Video footage launched by the navy confirmed troopers strolling throughout an open space as heavy gunfire echoes within the background and organising a place within the ruins of a closely broken constructing.

Conricus stated some 800,000 folks have heeded the Israeli navy’s orders to flee from the northern a part of the strip to the south. But tens of 1000’s of individuals stay in and round Gaza City, and casualties are anticipated to mount on either side because the battle strikes into dense, residential neighborhoods.

The window to flee south could also be closing, as Israeli forces reached Gaza’s essential north-south freeway this week. Video circulating Monday confirmed a tank opening fireplace on a automobile that had approached a sand berm however was turning round. Gaza’s Health Ministry stated three folks have been killed.

Zaki Abdel-Hay, a Palestinian man dwelling a couple of minutes’ stroll from the highway south of Gaza City, stated individuals are afraid to make use of it. “People are very scared. The Israeli tanks are still close,” he stated over the telephone, including that “constant artillery fire” might be heard close to the highway.

In a news convention late Monday, Netanyahu rejected requires a cease-fire to facilitate the discharge of captives or finish the warfare, which he has stated can be lengthy and tough. “Calls for a cease-fire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas,” he advised a news convention. “That will not happen.”

Netanyahu, who faces mounting anger over Israel’s failure to stop the worst shock assault on the nation in a half century, additionally stated he had no plans to resign.

More than 8,500 Palestinians have been killed within the warfare, principally ladies and minors, the Gaza Health Ministry stated Monday. The determine is with out precedent in a long time of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Over 1,400 folks have died on the Israeli aspect, primarily civilians killed throughout Hamas’ preliminary assault, additionally an unprecedented determine. Palestinian militants have continued firing rockets into Israel.

The navy stated Monday that particular forces rescued one of many estimated 240 captives seized by Palestinian militants through the wide-ranging assault. It stated Pvt. Ori Megidish, 19, was “doing well” and had been reunited along with her household.

Hamas has launched 4 hostages, and has stated it might let the others go in return for 1000’s of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, which has dismissed the provide. Hamas launched a brief video Monday exhibiting three different feminine captives.

Gaza’s humanitarian disaster, in the meantime, continues to worsen.

The World Health Organization stated two hospitals have been broken and an ambulance destroyed in Gaza over the past two days. It stated all 13 hospitals working within the north have obtained Israeli evacuation orders in current days. Medics have refused such orders, saying it might be a loss of life sentence for sufferers on life help.

Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants function amongst civilians, placing them at risk.

Israel has allowed greater than 150 vehicles loaded with meals and medication to enter Gaza from Egypt over the previous a number of days, however assist employees say it’s not sufficient to fulfill quickly rising wants.

Israel says it has reopened two essential water traces in Gaza, however the U.N. workplace for humanitarian affairs stated certainly one of them had stopped working after working for 2 weeks and that the opposite one was in want of repairs.

Associated Press author Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report