Israeli defence forces are steadily advancing into the Gaza Strip in an apparent move to encircle Gaza City in the second phase of Operation Iron Swords.
Merkava IV tanks, some with overhead anti-drone metal canopies, and armoured personnel carriers were seen sweeping across the sandy beaches in the northwest, on Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline.
Israeli tanks were also seen moving from the southeastern part of Gaza, advancing towards the west, possibly in an attempt to divide the north from the south.
Significantly, an Israeli tank and an armoured bulldozer were seen just south of Gaza City on Salah al-Din Street, which is the main north-south route in the heart of the Gaza Strip. They came under fire and Hamas claimed that the tanks eventually withdrew.
It’s likely the armoured presence close to the outskirts of Gaza City was for a reconnaissance mission.
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What is going on in Gaza?
Although Israel is not giving any details about the number of troops, mounted and dismounted, currently in Gaza, this second phase of Israel’s war appears to be aimed at gathering as much intelligence as possible on the main Hamas fighting strongholds, as well as the attepting to locate the whereabouts of more than 200 hostages. However, when confronted by Hamas there have been fierce clashes.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli defence forces (IDF) spokesman, would only confirm that a combined force of infantry, tanks and armoured units was attempting to move towards known Hamas positions inside Gaza. He said Hamas tended to gather at staging sites before mounting attacks on Israeli troops. Once flushed out, Israeli fighter jets were called in to bomb them.
• Who are Hamas and what do they want?
Hagari said that “dozens of terrorists” were killed overnight. The “expanded ground operations” were “progressing gradually according to our operational plans”, he said.
Where is Israel attacking as part of its ground invasion?
Six hundred targets have been hit in bombing raids in the past 24 hours.
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The extra IDF units sent into Gaza overnight included foot soldiers, tanks, engineering units and artillery forces. This second phase has been officially described as “lower-intensity operations”, aimed at eliminating pockets of resistance.
Israeli troops outside the Gaza border were in direct combat with Hamas after about a dozen fighters emerged from a tunnel at the Erez crossing in northeast Gaza.
• Inside the Hamas tunnel network — where the war may be decided
Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Syria
Israel has also had to turn its attention to Lebanon as Hezbollah fired a surface-to-air missile to shoot down an Israeli surveillance drone. Israel responded with airstrikes deep inside Lebanese territory to attack the location of the missile unit.
On Sunday, Hezbollah had fired a rocket which reached the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Sharmona and hit one home.
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In addition, more than four Palestinians were killed overnight during an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinian militants in a refugee camp in Jenin, supported by an armed drone overhead.
Overnight Israeli fighter jets bombed two Syrian army bases in the south after rocket launches from Syria into Israel.
