Israel yesterday bombarded Gaza and pressed its ground operations after issuing what it called a “last warning” for the return of hostages and for Hamas to be removed from power.
Airstrikes began in Gaza early on Tuesday, killing more than 400 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Gaza rescuers said that at least 10 more people were killed in a pre-dawn bombing near Khan Yunis yesterday.
Photo: AFP
On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced it had resumed ground operations “in the central and southern Gaza Strip to expand the security perimeter and create a partial buffer between the north and south.”
“We’re digging with our bare hands,” said a man trying to dislodge a body from a heap of concrete in Gaza City.
After Israel urged civilians to leave areas it described as “combat zones,” people filled the roads leading out of northern Gaza.
Fred Oola, senior medical officer at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, said that the renewed strikes shattered the relative calm of the past two months.
“Now, we can feel the panic in the air ... and we can see the pain and devastation in the faces of those we are helping,” Oola added.
Addressing the “residents of Gaza” — governed by Hamas since 2007 — Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said in a video: “This is the last warning.”
“Take the advice of the president of the United States. Return the hostages and remove Hamas, and other options will open up for you — including the possibility of leaving for other places in the world for those who want to,” Katz said, an apparent reference to a warning earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, who said: “To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!”
Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, 58 are still held by Gaza militants, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
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