Israeli army chief: Gaza ground offensive to expand to new areas
Eyal Zamir has instructed the military to expand the ground invasion to additional areas of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.
“We are in the midst of a powerful and uncompromising campaign,” Israel’s army chief was quoted as saying to troops in southern Gaza. “Hamas is losing control.”
Zamir also said he was instructed to establish additional aid distribution sites.
A former tank commander, Zamir was sworn in as Israel’s new military chief in March. Previously director of the Defence Ministry, the 59-year-old replaced Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, who resigned in January, admitting he failed to fulfil his duties during Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza City as Palestinians flee
Palestinians inspect damage to a Gaza City house after an Israeli strike
The Israeli military has been targeting residential buildings and giving residents little time to gather their belongings and flee
Israel army ‘completely flattening’ Gaza City structures
Gaza resident Mo’men al-Fayomi has described the ongoing destruction of tall buildings still standing in Gaza City after 19 months of Israeli army bombardment.
About 70 buildings that are five storeys or higher have been blown up in the past two days in relentless Israeli strikes.
“What happened was all of a sudden, we saw people running. We asked, ‘What’s going on?’ People said, ‘it’s an evacuation for the building behind us’. We ran about 50 metres [164 feet]. The building was bombed and caused severe damage, and we could not take any of our belongings. There are no Hamas or other fighters in the area, just business owners and stores,” al-Fayomi told Al Jazeera.
Palestinians say this number of buildings completely flattened in the past 48 hours is an indication of Israel’s strategy to push them out of the north permanently.
