Gaza City, the main city of the Palestinian enclave, is completely surrounded and Israeli troops are already inside some areas of the town.
“Our forces are in the heart of the northern Strip, inside Gaza City, which is completely surrounded,” said Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, while Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of an operation “now at its peak.” «We also have painful losses - admitted the Israeli prime minister referring to at least 19 soldiers killed in combat since the start of the ground operation - but as one of the fighters told me 'nothing will stop us'. I appeal to people not involved to get out and go south, because we will not stop from eliminating Hamas terrorists."
The strategy on the field, as has been confirmed by the military, is that of combined attacks: not only soldiers and tanks for the advance on the ground, but also incessant raids by aviation and naval forces from the sea which thus pave the way for the operations of land .
"Fighting planes and helicopters - continued the spokesperson - attacked several military headquarters used by senior Hamas officials and successfully destroyed a series of terrorist infrastructures located in civilian areas and military bases." The population of that part of the Strip where the humanitarian situation is in crisis remains in the midst of the "fierce fighting" between the ground troops and Hamas militiamen. “Time is running out to prevent a genocide in Gaza,” United Nations experts reported from Geneva, according to whom the Palestinian people “run a serious risk of genocide.”
According to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees , four UNRWA schools hosting displaced people were damaged in today's attacks and at least 20 people were killed.
For the second consecutive day, hundreds of foreigners managed to exit the Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt, including those with dual nationality and even those who were injured. Among the first also a 6-year-old Italian girl together with her Palestinian mother, after the four compatriots evacuated on Wednesday. A small glimmer of light in the humanitarian collapse that will be at the top of the dossiers that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will face when he arrives in Israel tomorrow, where he will see Prime Minister Netanyahu.
(Unioneonline/D)