BY C STONE | STONE NEWS NETWORK ||| GAZA
Source: BBC
Israel has begun advancing into Gaza City today, placing 60,000 reservists on call for possible deployment in September. This is to free up the active duty personnel who have been working continuously since the October 7 assault by Hamas almost 2 years ago.
Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal and has staged on the outskirts of the city. As the military operation starts, a question remains about how much money will this cost Israel in terms of operating an extended theater of war.
It can't be cheap.
With the reports of starvation and firing on people waiting for food - which we cannot verify as true or not - remains to be seen. What is clear is the division of support Israel has received over the past few months. With countries such as France criticizing their response to their occupation of Gaza, the question remains: How long will the war last, what is Israel's true objectives, and, what will it cost them?
Does Gaza City have a right to exist peacefully? If peaceful co-existence between Israel and Gaza can only be held with military power, then, sadly, they will be fighting this war for a very, very long time.
Speaking at a televised briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Hamas was "battered and bruised" after 22 months of war.
"We will deepen the damage to Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation," he added. "We will deepen the damage to the terror infrastructure above and below the ground and sever the population's dependence on Hamas."
But Defrin said the IDF was "not waiting" to begin the operation.
"We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City."
Two brigades were operating on the ground in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, where in recent days they had located an underground tunnel that contained weapons, and a third brigade was operating in the Jabalia area, he added.
In order to "minimise harm to civilians," he said, Gaza City's civilian population would be warned to evacuate for their safety.
A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods.
The agency reported that Israeli strikes and fire had killed 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. They included three children and their parents whose home in the Badr area of Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed, it said.
Defrin said the IDF was also doing everything possible to prevent harm to the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Their families have expressed fears that those in Gaza City could be endangered by a ground offensive.
The ICRC warned of a catastrophic situation for both Palestinian civilians and the hostages if military activity in Gaza intensified.
"After months of relentless hostilities and repeated displacement, the people in Gaza are utterly exhausted. What they need is not more pressure, but relief. Not more fear, but a chance to breathe. They must have access to the essentials to live in dignity: food, medical and hygiene supplies, clean water, and safe shelter," a statement said.
"Any further intensification of military operations will only deepen the suffering, tear more families apart, and threaten an irreversible humanitarian crisis. The lives of hostages may also be put at risk," it added.
It called for an immediate ceasefire and the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance across Gaza.
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