Hamas, the terror group that runs Gaza, has claimed that fighting between its forces and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has begun on the Strip.
According to Hamas, the IDF has begun advancing on Gaza City from the north and south.
Israeli tanks have been seen moving in towards the Strip’s city from both directions, although these reports have not been confirmed by the Netanyahu government.
Hamas said its al-Qassam brigades have begun fighting against “invading the southern Gaza axis, (including) with machine guns, and targeted four vehicles with al-Yassin 105 missiles”.
IDF spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said in an operational update on Tuesday that Israel’s military is “striking in all parts of the Gaza strip.
“We will focus our activities on the northern part of Gaza, that is the centre of gravity of Hamas… but we continue to strike in other parts of Gaza. We are hunting their commanders, we are attacking their infrastructure and whenever there is an important target we strike it.”
The IDF says “numerous Hamas terrorists have been killed” by troops, who battled “terrorist cells that fired both anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire toward them”.
Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not step down and is intent on annihilating the terror group that inflicted the devastating attack on October 7.
Netanyahu said: “The only thing that I intend to have resigned is Hamas. We’re going to resign them to the dustbin of history. That’s my goal. That’s my responsibility.”
Netanyahu added he would not agree to a ceasefire, saying it would effectively be equivalent to a “surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen”.
IDF ‘expanded’ raids in Gaza against Hamas: ‘We are striking in all parts of Gaza Strip’
IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus: “We are expanding our activity in Gaza. We’ve conducted a few raids over the last days, we’ve expanded those now and Israeli troops are in various parts of northern Gaza.
He added that the IDF were “looking for Hamas and engaging with Hamas combatants” to attack “on the ground and also from the air”.
He also said: “We are striking in all parts of the Gaza Strip”.
Netanyahu issues defiant statement amid calls for ceasefire
Benjamin Netanyahu last night stood firm amid demands he call his military operation in Gaza off.
He said: “Just as the US would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7.
“Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism. “The Bible says, ‘There is a time for peace, and a time for war’.
“This is a time for a war. A war for our common future. Today, we draw a line between the forces of civilisation and the forces of barbarism.”
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