Israel places its Army at the gates of Gaza City while the UN denounces bombings near three hospitals

Israel's ground offensive on Gaza has begun. In the early hours of this Monday, Israeli tanks and infantry entered several kilometers into the east of the Strip, reaching the Saladin highway, the main road that crosses the Palestinian enclave from north to south.. Ground forces have reached the outskirts of the capital, where clashes have occurred with Hamas militias. All of this supported by air attacks, which have also destroyed several Gazan residential areas; and that, according to the Islamist organization, in these three weeks they would have killed more than 8,300 people. Although Israel assures that the attacks are carried out against military objectives, the UN has warned that the latest bombings in Tel Aviv have hit close to three hospitals.

Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari has acknowledged that “an extended ground operation in the Strip” has been given the green light.. This would be the beginning of the “new phase” of the conflict that had been announced over the weekend and which would consist of invading the territory of Gaza until “ending Hamas.” “The terrorists are gathering in assembly areas to try to hit our forces and we attack them from the air,” he stated.. In recent days alone, the Israeli Defense Forces claim to have attacked 600 targets, including weapons depots, anti-tank missile launchers and Islamist group hideouts.

“We advance on the ground, we identify the terrorists and we attack from the air. The fighting is underway within the Strip,” said the military spokesman, who acknowledged that the offensive “will intensify.”. Thus, the Hebrew State has announced that during the operation an Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas has been freed and four officials from the Islamist organization have been killed: Yamil Baba, a naval force commander; Muhamad Safadi, commander of an anti-tank formation of the Tafá Battalion; Muaman Hegazi, a member of this same battalion, and Muhamad Abdalá, a senior official at the “production headquarters of the terrorist organization.”

For its part, Hamas has denied Israel's advances and says that the presence of tanks south of Gaza City was simply “an incursion” into the area. “What happened was an incursion by a few tanks of the occupying Army and a bulldozer from an agricultural area in Juhr al Dik,” they say. “At this time there is no presence of military vehicles from the occupation on Saladino Street and the movement of citizens has returned to normal,” they add.

Likewise, Hamas assures that since October 7 – when they carried out an attack on Israeli soil, leaving 1,400 dead and 239 hostages – more than 8,300 Palestinians have died due to Israeli bombings.. In addition, among the deceased there were 3,457 children and the number of injured rose to 21,000.

UN warns against Israeli bombings

During the weekend, Israel's bombings have intensified and, according to the United Nations, have hit the surroundings of three hospitals in Gaza, including the most important, Shifa.. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recalled that “the ten hospitals still operational in Gaza City and in the north have received repeated evacuation orders in recent days” and that some 117,000 internally displaced people are taking refuge there. thousands of patients.

Both this UN Office and the World Health Organization (WHO) have recognized that “it is impossible to evacuate patients without putting their lives at risk.”. Furthermore, southern Gaza, where Israel has asked Palestinians to take refuge, is not a safe place, as shelling also occurs daily.. “Airstrikes appear to be systematically destroying entire residential areas,” denounces the United Nations report, citing bombings in Jabalia that killed at least 26 people on Sunday.

In this context, the humanitarian situation continues to be critical despite the entry of aid. At least 26 trucks entered the Strip this Monday after passing an inspection by Israeli authorities. These trucks are loaded with water, food and medical supplies, but none of them carry fuel, having been vetoed by Israel to prevent it from reaching Hamas.. International organizations warn that fuel is an essential element and that if it does not reach Gaza, hospitals, food stores and water treatment plants will stop working.

An average of 12 trucks per day have entered the Rafah crossing, which connects Egypt with Gaza, an insufficient number given the situation in the Palestinian enclave. According to the United Nations, before the war between Israel and Hamas began, some 500 trucks of humanitarian aid entered an already impoverished region every day.