The Israeli military launched a ground incursion into Gaza City early Tuesday, according to three Israeli officials, embarking on a risky operation to take control of a key urban area even as hundreds of thousands of residents remain there.
Two of the officials said the ground invasion was in its early stages. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military and government operations.
The ground operation and intensifying Israeli bombardment risks deepening the humanitarian crisis in a war that has already killed tens of thousands of people.
More than 300,000 people had already fled the city by Monday, according to the Israeli military. On Tuesday, the military urged up to half a million Palestinians remaining in the city to move south as quickly as possible, by vehicle or on foot, describing the city as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Avichay Adraee, the Arabic language spokesman for the Israeli military, said that the military had “begun dismantling Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Gaza City.”
“Gaza is burning,” Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement after a night of heavy bombardment of Gaza City. The Israeli military “is striking with an iron fist at the terrorist infrastructure,” he added.
This is a developing article. Please check for updates.
Natan Odenheimer contributed reporting.
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
Lara Jakes, a Times reporter based in Rome, reports on conflict and diplomacy, with a focus on weapons and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. She has been a journalist for more than 30 years.
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