https://arab.news/b3vmu
- Israeli military said ground troops began conducting operations in Shujaiya area 鈥渢o expand the security zone鈥�
- Gaza鈥檚 civil defense said Israeli military operations had killed at least 30 people in the territory since dawn
GAZA, Palestinian Territories: Israel announced the launch of a new ground offensive in Gaza City on Friday, with rescuers saying military operations had killed at least 30 people across the Palestinian territory since dawn.
Israel has pushed since the collapse of a short-lived truce in the war with Hamas to seize territory in Gaza in what it has called a strategy to force the militants to free hostages still in captivity.
Simultaneously, Israel has escalated attacks on Lebanon and Syria, with a strike in the south Lebanese city of Sidon killing a Hamas commander along with his son, who was also a member of the militant group鈥檚 armed wing.
In Gaza City, the Israeli military said ground troops had begun conducting operations in the Shujaiya area 鈥渋n order to expand the security zone.鈥�
Gaza鈥檚 civil defense agency said that Israeli military operations had killed at least 30 people in the Palestinian territory since dawn.
A single Israeli strike on Khan Yunis killed at least 25 people, a medical source at the southern city鈥檚 Nasser Hospital told AFP.
鈥淭he situation is very dangerous, and there is death coming at us from every direction,鈥� Elena Helles told AFP via text message, adding that she and her family were trapped in her sister鈥檚 house in Shujaiya.
Defense Minister Israel Katz had said on Wednesday that Israel would bolster its military presence inside the Gaza Strip to 鈥渄estroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.鈥�
The operation would 鈥渟eize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones,鈥� he said, without specifying how much territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army was dividing Gaza and 鈥渟eizing territory鈥� to force Hamas to free the remaining Israeli hostages seized in the militant group鈥檚 October 2023 attack on Israel which sparked the Gaza war.
On Thursday, Gaza鈥檚 civil defense agency said at least 31 people, including children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that women and children were among the dead, while six people were still unaccounted for in the strike on Dar Al-Arqam School in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City.
鈥淥ne of the missing was a pregnant woman who was expecting twins,鈥� he said.
The Israeli military said it had struck a 鈥淗amas command and control center in the area of Gaza City.鈥�
It was unclear whether it was the same attack that hit the school.
鈥淚t was like Judgment Day. They bombed us with missiles and everything went dark. We started looking for our children and our belongings but everything was gone. We couldn鈥檛 find our children,鈥� sobbed Raghda Al-Sharafa, who was among the displaced civilians sheltering in the school buildings.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 1,249 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed intense bombing on March 18, bringing the overall death toll since the war began to 50,609.
The Israeli military said Thursday it had struck more than 600 鈥渢error targets鈥� across the Gaza Strip since fighting resumed.