Israel before dawn yesterday launched its long anticipated ground assault on Gaza City, shortly after visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed its goal of eradicating Hamas.
A UN probe meanwhile charged Israel with committing “genocide” in the Palestinian territory and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials of incitement.
The assault drew widespread condemnation, with the UN rights chief demanding an end to the “carnage.”
Photo: AP
During the night, the military unleashed a massive bombardment of Gaza City as Israeli troops moved deeper into the territory’s largest urban hub.
“Last night, we transitioned into the next phase, the main phase of the plan for Gaza City... Forces have expanded ground activity into Hamas’ main stronghold in Gaza, which is Gaza City,” a military official told journalists.
“We are moving towards the center” of Gaza City, he said.
The military estimated there were 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas militants operating in the area, he added.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz earlier said that Gaza City was “on fire.”
“The IDF [Israeli military] is striking terrorist infrastructure with an iron fist,” he said.
The military estimated that about “40 percent” of Gaza City residents had left and moved to the territory’s south, the military official said.
Witnesses told of relentless bombing in Gaza City, much of which is already in ruins after nearly two years of Israeli strikes.
Only huge piles of rubble remained of a residential block in the north of the city hit by overnight bombing.
“Why kill children sleeping safely like that, turning them into body parts?” Abu Abd Zaquout said. “We pulled the children out in pieces.”
Gaza’s civil defense agency said at least 36 people had been killed by Israeli fire yesterday.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which does not speak for the world body, found that “genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur,” commission chief Navi Pillay said.
“The responsibility lies with the State of Israel,” he said.
The investigators said explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities along with the pattern of Israeli forces’ conduct “indicated that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy ... Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group.”
The report concluded that Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former Israeli minister of defense Yoav Gallant have “incited the commission of genocide.”
Israel said it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report,” and called for the “immediate abolition” the commission.
The EU said the ground assault on Gaza City would worsen an already “catastrophic” humanitarian situation, while the UK said it would bring only “more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and endanger the remaining hostages.”
Despite the mounting criticism, Rubio on Monday offered robust backing for the offensive as he met Netanyahu.
“We think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go,” he told reporters.
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