Israel's ground invasion of southern Gaza Strip has begun
Rights — di Luigi Mastrodonato
Dozens of Israeli military vehicles have reached the outskirts of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. A new phase of the conflict begins.
Israel's ground invasion of southern Gaza Strip has begun
Dozens of Israeli military vehicles have reached the outskirts of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. A new phase of the conflict begins.
- After the invasion of the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli troops have now arrived in the south.
- Israel believes that some Hamas leaders have taken refuge in and around Khan Yunis.
- The ground operation in the south leaves the Palestinian population — already evacuated from the north — with no way out.
The Israeli army has launched a ground operation in the south of the Gaza Strip as well. After two months of bombardment and the invasion of the northern part of the territory, with around 16,000 deaths among Palestinians, Israel has now begun a new chapter of its offensive.
In recent days, with the end of the ceasefire, air strikes had already concentrated on the south — precisely where the entire population of Gaza had gathered following the evacuation of the north. But now dozens of Israeli military vehicles have also arrived near Khan Yunis, the main southern city. The invasion of the Strip is therefore total.
The invasion of the south
Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli army, said as much on the afternoon of Sunday 3 December: "we are expanding military operations throughout the Strip." A statement that could not refer solely to the bombardments — given that Israeli raids have been striking the entire territory since the start of the offensive — but that necessarily had to refer to the ground operation as well. And so it proved.
First came the warning leaflets dropped over Khan Yunis, the main southern city. The Israeli army told the population to move even further south, towards Rafah, yet in the meantime bombarded Khan Yunis and Rafah itself. Then a map of the Gaza Strip divided into hundreds of districts was released, with the idea of issuing evacuation orders to the Palestinian population from one district to another according to raid targets. In between, more bombs — which since 1 December, the day the ceasefire ended, have caused over a thousand casualties. And in the end, the military vehicles arrived too.
The IDF has published an interactive map splitting the Gaza Strip into hundreds of small zones, which it will use to notify Palestinian civilians of active combat zones.
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As highlighted by the New York Times, satellite images from 3 December show the presence of tanks at Deir al Balah, around three kilometres from Khan Yunis. From above, dozens of vehicles are visible, along with barriers erected to defend Israeli positions, in what the American newspaper describes as the preliminary stages of the "decisive battle". Until now, Israeli action had in fact focused on the north of the Strip, today a ghost land reduced largely to rubble. The population had been evacuated southwards, and this had suggested that the southern part of the territory might be spared, at least from a ground invasion. Now, however, the Israeli military siege — by air, sea and land — is total.
Immagini dei pesanti bombardamenti israeliani a Khan Younis nel sud della Striscia di Gaza questa mattina.
Local witnesses reported Israeli tanks also in the village of Al Qarara, likewise near Khan Yunis. Salaheddine Road, which links the Gaza Strip from north to south, is now patrolled by Tel Aviv's vehicles. And fighting is multiplying in the area between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, just as Tel Aviv provided a toll of deaths within the army's ranks since the start of the invasion on 27 October: 75 Israeli soldiers are said to have lost their lives.
No way out
Today, almost the entire Palestinian population is in the south of the Gaza Strip. Around 1.8 million people — 80 per cent of Gaza's population — many of them displaced from the north during the Israeli offensive on that part of the territory. As the New York Times writes, the Israeli invasion under way in the south at this hour will worsen the already terrible living conditions of the Palestinian population. But Israel, which believes some Hamas leaders are hiding in the south, will press ahead.
Israeli military has begun an invasion of southern Gaza, according to a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery.
Israeli troops have now advanced into the last section of the territory that had been under full Hamas control. Their move sets the stage for what is likely to
Israeli troops have now advanced into the last section of the territory that had been under full Hamas control. Their move sets the stage for what is likely to
As emerged from an investigation by the Israeli newspaper +972 Magazine, also picked up by the British Guardian, the killing of targets linked to Hamas is the only thing that matters to the Israeli army, and the resulting civilian deaths are not considered a problem but a sustainable collateral effect. To the point that the identification of targets to strike is delegated to an artificial intelligence. "Nothing happens by accident. When a three-year-old girl is killed in a house in Gaza, it is because someone in the army decided it was not a big deal to kill her, that it was a price to pay in order to strike a target," explained an Israeli intelligence source cited in the investigation. A detail that explains why children account for one third of the more than 16,000 deaths since the start of the Israeli offensive on 7 October.