Israel’s defence minister says ‘Gaza is burning’ amid escalation in bombardment – newest updates

Wafa, the Palestinian information company, has been informed by medical sources that at the very least 38 Palestinian individuals, together with girls and kids, have been killed by Israeli forces since daybreak as we speak.

In addition to dealing with relentless bombardments, Gaza Metropolis, the largest built-up space of the territory, is being gripped by a famine brought on by Israel’s restrictions on assist.

The Built-in Meals Safety Section Classification (IPC), a globally recognised organisation that classifies the severity of meals insecurity and malnutrition, declared final month that an “entirely man-made” famine was going down in Gaza Metropolis and its surrounding space.

“If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies and basic health, nutrition and [sanitation and water] services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially,” the IPC report stated.

The UN and different organisations face large logistical obstacles together with widespread looting, ongoing Israeli bombardments, Israel’s administrative restrictions and paperwork and broken infrastructure inside Gaza.

Charities have warned tha Palestinian residents in Gaza Metropolis face an unimaginable alternative: both keep and danger being killed by Israeli forces (or die from hunger) or flee and danger demise whereas travelling on street to overcrowded displacement areas within the south which have additionally been targets of Israeli assaults.

Most individuals in Gaza Metropolis have already been displaced a number of instances over the course of the battle and could also be too weak, outdated, or sick to flee this time round.

The Israeli public broadcaster, Kan, is citing Palestinian experiences as saying there are Israeli tanks on the streets of Gaza Metropolis.

CNN is reporting that Israel has begun a floor incursion into town, citing two Israeli officers.

It quoted one of many officers as saying the incursion can be “phased and gradual” firstly.

Listed here are among the newest photographs coming in from Gaza Metropolis because the Israeli navy intensifies its bombardment and there are experiences 1000’s of Palestinians are fleeing.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio stated as he headed to Qatar on Tuesday that he would ask it to remain on as a mediator in Israel’s battle on Gaza, per week after Israeli airstrikes in opposition to Hamas leaders in Doha.

Rubio expressed pessimism a couple of ceasefire deal as he flew out from Tel Aviv amid the IDF’s intensified bombardment of Gaza however informed reporters that Qatar uniquely might assist, Agence France-Presse experiences.

“We’re going to ask Qatar to continue to do what they’ve done, and we appreciate very much, and that is, play a constructive role in trying to bring this to an end,” Rubio informed reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.

“Obviously they have to decide if they want to do that after last week or not, but we want them to know that if there’s any country in the world that could help end this through a negotiation, it’s Qatar.”

Rubio stated the US would work with Qatar to finalise a defence settlement quickly regardless of the Israeli navy motion final week.

“If any country in the world can help mediate it, Qatar is the one. They’re the ones that can do it,” Rubio stated whereas departing Tel Aviv for Doha.

“We have a close partnership with the Qataris. In fact, we have an enhanced defence cooperation agreement, which we’ve been working on, we’re on the verge of finalising,” Rubio stated, with out elaborating.

President Donald Trump informed reporters in Washington that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “won’t be hitting” Qatar once more.

Rubio made no such feedback in Israel. Talking subsequent to Netanyahu, Rubio was reticent on praising Qatar, saying solely that it was essential to look ahead after the strike.

The United Nations rapporteur on human rights within the occupied territories, Francesca Albanese, has stated the goal of the Gaza Metropolis offensive is to make it uninhabitable.

“This is the last piece of Gaza that needs to be rendered unliveable,” she stated on Monday.

However the Israeli mission to the UN rejected her remarks, blaming Hamas for the destruction, Julian Borger has reported, whereas Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel’s ways. “We’re not bringing down those towers [in Gaza City] to intimidate people,” the Israeli prime minister stated. “Those towers are serving as Hamas strongholds.”

The Israeli navy’s chief of workers, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, is broadly reported to have deep misgivings concerning the Gaza Metropolis offensive, arguing it might not destroy Hamas and can be expensive within the lives of Israeli troopers and hostages.

You may learn Borger’s report right here:

Earlier than as we speak’s Israeli navy actions, the Israel Protection Forces have been destroying blocks of flats throughout Gaza Metropolis and ordering its inhabitants to evacuate, drawing worldwide condemnation, as Julian Borger has reported.

Tens of 1000’s of Palestinians have fled Gaza Metropolis for the south, however many of the estimated million individuals sheltering within the city sprawl have opted to remain, both as a result of they’re unable to maneuver or as a result of they’ve nowhere to go.

Humanitarian businesses have stated there’s nowhere left in Gaza that’s protected or appropriate for displaced individuals, the report continues.

The UN reduction company, Unrwa, stated 10 of its buildings had been hit by Israeli strikes up to now 4 days, together with seven faculties and two clinics.

Palestinian residents have reported heavy strikes throughout Gaza Metropolis.

One in a single day strike hit a home within the western aspect of Gaza Metropolis, killing at the very least 5 Palestinians together with two youngsters, in response to the Shifa hospital, which the acquired the our bodies.

One other strike hit at the very least three homes within the south-western aspect of town, the Related Press experiences residents as saying. Medics have been looking out the rubble for survivors.

“It was a heavy night,” stated Radwan Hayder, a Gaza Metropolis resident sheltering close to the Shifa hospital.

The Israeli navy has not responded to questions for hours over whether or not the expanded offensive has begun.

As simply reported, Marco Rubio warned Hamas as we speak that it solely has days to just accept a ceasefire deal amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza Metropolis.

“Our number one choice is that this ends through a negotiated settlement where Hamas says, ‘We’re going to demilitarise, we’re no longer going to pose a threat,’” the US secretary of state informed reporters as he flew out of Israel to go to Qatar.

“Sometimes when you’re dealing with a group of savages like Hamas, that’s not possible, but we hope it can happen,” Rubio stated.

Agence France-Presse additionally experiences that Rubio met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday and gave his assist to the Israeli prime minister’s new offensive in Gaza Metropolis and its said objective of eradicating Hamas.

Witnesses later informed AFP town was beneath heavy bombardment.

After an evening of experiences of intense bombardment of Gaza Metropolis, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, seems to have declared a brand new part within the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) offensive in opposition to the already devastated city sprawl the place tons of of 1000’s of persons are sheltering.

“Gaza is burning,” Katz stated on Tuesday morning. He added “the IDF is striking terror infrastructure with an iron fist”.

“IDF soldiers are fighting heroically to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” Katz stated. “We will not relent or turn back until the mission is complete.”

The escalation within the Israeli bombardment of Gaza Metropolis got here instantly within the wake of a go to by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who declared the Trump administration’s “unwavering support” for Israel.

As he left the nation, heading for Qatar on Tuesday morning, Rubio informed journalists: “The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go.”

A Hamas assertion issued within the early hours of Tuesday stated the Trump administration “bears direct responsibility” for the battle’s escalation via its “blatant bias” and it warned the offensive would “threaten the lives of the captured Israeli soldiers”.

There are nonetheless 48 hostages in Gaza, kidnapped by Hamas and allied militants of their assault on 7 October 2023, who haven’t been returned. Solely 20 are considered nonetheless alive.

Hostage households have referred to as for a protest in a while Tuesday morning outdoors the Jerusalem residence of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to show in opposition to the offensive, and police have closed off the road.