September 16, 2025 03:49 PM IST
First published on: Sep 16, 2025 at 01:12 PM IST
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An Israeli armored vehicle moves along the Israeli-Gaza border as seen from southern Israel. (AP Photo)
The Israeli military has launched its ground offensive to seize Gaza City, which is considered as the territory’s largest urban centre, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday during testimony in court.
The move comes after weeks of intensive strikes by Tel Aviv. The Benjamin Netanyahu-led country had approved a plan to take over and occupy the heavily bombarded city in August.
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Netanyahu described last month that Gaza City is one of the strongholds of the militant group Hamas that launched a surprise attack in October 2023 on Israel which led to the killing of over 1,200 people and about 251 were taken hostages, Israel tally shows. Of the remaining 48 hostages, the Israeli authorities say 20 of them are alive in Gaza.
עזה בוערת. צה"ל מכה באגרוף פלדה בתשתיות הטרור וחיילי צה"ל נלחמים בגבורה ליצירת התנאים לשחרור החטופים ולהכרעת החמאס. לא נרפה ולא נשוב לאחור – עד להשלמת המשימה.
The Israeli military has since then launched its offensive to siege the Gaza Strip with widespread destruction, mass displacement and severe shortages of food and water. For several weeks, the Israeli forces had been operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, in its attempt to edge closer to the center of the city where about 1 million Palestinians had taken shelter in August, Reuters reported.
Smoke erupt from a building following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City. (AP Photo)
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, in a post on X on Tuesday said, “Gaza is burning.” Katz further added, “The IDF strikes with an iron fist at the terrorist infrastructure and IDF soldiers are fighting bravely to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
A CNN report states that the ground incursion by the Israeli military was supposed to take place only after Tel Aviv’s forces evacuate the densely populated area, however, only a fraction of the population has left till now. The Israeli incursion began with a renewed wave of strikes with casualties, including children.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while flying out of Israel to go to Qatar, warned Hamas that it has only a few days left to accept a ceasefire deal amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza City.
“Our number one choice is that this ends through a negotiated settlement where Hamas says, ‘We’re going to demilitarise, we’re no longer going to pose a threat’,” Rubio said, reported The Guardian.
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An Israeli armored vehicle moves along the Israeli-Gaza border as seen from southern Israel. (AP Photo) 
