Israel announced the start of its ground operation in the enclave’s largest city on Tuesday, saying troops had begun “dismantling Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Gaza City” and urging residents to leave.
“Gaza is burning,” Katz posted on X, adding that Israeli forces were striking “with an iron fist” to create conditions for the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces have “launched a significant operation in Gaza.”
Residents reported a sharp escalation in bombardment over the past two days, with heavier blasts, dozens of homes destroyed and naval fire joining tank and air strikes along the coast.
Gaza health officials said at least 24 people were killed in the early hours of the assault, most in Gaza City.
An Israeli military official said the campaign marked the main stage of the ground drive into the city, where Israel previously ordered hundreds of thousands to flee. Israeli forces had been operating on the outskirts for weeks and were edging inward.
A security official cited by Reuters estimated around 320,000 people had left Gaza City so far, with some 650,000 thought to remain. Much of the city was devastated in the early weeks of the 2023 war, yet about one million Palestinians had returned to the ruins.
New evacuations would push nearly the entire population toward coastal encampments farther south that Israel labels a humanitarian area.
Israel says it now controls about 75% of Gaza.
Netanyahu has ordered the military to capture Gaza City, which he describes as Hamas’s last stronghold. Israel’s leaders say the objective is to dismantle Hamas as a political and armed force, the Israeli forces have flattened buildings in surrounding districts, including high-rises, in recent weeks.
Reuters reported that inside Israel’s war cabinet, some commanders and officials have voiced caution. According to three Israeli officials, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir urged Netanyahu during a late-Sunday meeting with security chiefs to pursue a ceasefire deal, warning that the current plan could endanger remaining hostages and become a "death trap" for troops.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who paid an official visit to Israel on Monday, warned there is now only a "short window of time in which a deal can happen", while claiming support for the Israeli campaign in the enclave.
"The only thing worse than a war is a protracted one […] At some point, this has to end […] we hope it can happen through a negotiation. But I think time, unfortunately, is running out," Rubio said.
Both Rubio and Netanyahu said ending the offensive requires eliminating Hamas and freeing 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Hamas says any release must be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, alongside a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
On Tuesday, a United Nations inquiry said Israel committed genocide in Gaza and that statements by senior officials indicated intent.
The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said there are reasonable grounds to conclude Israel carried out four of the five genocidal acts under international law since the 2023 war began, citing killings, serious bodily and mental harm, the deliberate creation of life-threatening conditions, and measures intended to prevent births.
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Source: Reuters, CNN, Euronews