Palestinians in northern Gaza reported fierce air and artillery strikes early on Monday as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the enclave with a ground assault that prompted more international calls for civilians to be protected. Israel’s military said it had struck over 600 militant targets over the past few days as it continued to expand ground operations in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian civilians are in dire need of fuel, food and clean water as the conflict enters its fourth week. After weeks of ferocious airstrikes, Israel has declared a new “stage” in a war that its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned would be “long and difficult”. Late Sunday Israel’s military released footage that purported to show a significant number of tanks, infantry and artillery operating in Palestinian territory. The military claimed to have struck more than “450 targets, including operational command centres, observation posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts”. Hamas said its Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades were already “engaged in heavy fighting with the invading occupation forces”. With a fierce door-to-door urban war expected, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari told Palestinian civilians to go south “to a safer area”. It is now 23 days since Hamas gunmen launched a wave of cross-border raids inside Israel. An estimated 1,400 people were killed and 239 people were taken hostage, according to the latest Israeli tallies. The health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people, mainly civilians and half of them children have already been killed. The United Nations reported that “thousands of people” had ransacked several of its warehouses looking for tinned food, flour, oil and hygiene supplies.
Over 9,000 Palestinians martyred so far: Israel intensifies ground, air attacks
