Israel said Friday that Gaza City was now a dangerous combat zone and that it had begun the “initial stages” of its assault on the area, which has been gripped by a mounting starvation crisis.
Israel also said that its military had recovered the remains of two hostages from the enclave.
“We are not waiting,” the IDF said in a statement. “We have begun the preliminary operations and initial stages of the attack on Gaza City, and we are currently operating with great intensity on the outskirts of the city.”
The assault is expected to displace thousands of Palestinians from the city, which the world’s leading authority on hunger declared last week was gripped by famine under Israel’s military offensive.
Israel has called Gaza City a Hamas stronghold in the past.
“We will deepen our strikes and will not hesitate until we return all the abductees and Hamas is dismantled militarily and governmentally,” the IDF statement added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that Israel had recovered the body of hostage Ilan Weiss from the Gaza Strip.
It said that the remains of another hostage, whose identity had not yet been cleared for publication, were also recovered. Those remains were undergoing forensic identification, he said.
The military had earlier suspended mid-day pauses to fighting in Gaza City which had allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid, saying the city was now a “dangerous combat zone.”
Netanyahu last week authorized the operation to takeover the city, while also revealing he had instructed “immediate negotiations” to begin for a deal end the war in Gaza and secure the release of the hostages who remain held in the enclave.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz vowed to open the “gates of hell” on Gaza City until Hamas agreed to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, including the release of all hostages and the militant group’s complete disarmament.
Israel called up some 60,000 reservists for the expanded operation.
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