The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) began a ground offensive in Gaza City on Tuesday, escalating its military operations in the densely populated urban area. The move follows weeks of intense bombardment and comes as a United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that an “intense operation” had begun, which an IDF spokesperson described as the “main phase of the plan for Gaza City.” The stated goal is to dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure in what Israeli officials call one of the group’s last major strongholds.
The offensive follows a renewed wave of airstrikes that killed at least 37 people in Gaza City overnight, according to hospital officials. Medical services in northern Gaza are reportedly at a breaking point, with the Health Ministry making urgent calls for essential supplies due to “catastrophic” shortages. The director of Al-Shifa Hospital warned that the lives of many civilians, including premature babies, are at risk.
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Evacuation orders and humanitarian crisis
The IDF has issued orders for residents to evacuate, stating that “remaining in the city endangers you.” An IDF spokesperson claimed that over 40% of the city’s residents had already fled south towards designated “safe areas” like al-Mawasi, though these areas have also been subject to Israeli airstrikes. The United Nations had previously warned that an invasion would put approximately 1 million Palestinians at risk of forcible displacement.
The escalation occurs against a backdrop of a severe humanitarian crisis. A famine has already been declared in Gaza City, which the UN attributes to Israeli restrictions on aid. The former chief of the Israeli military, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, stated last week that more than 10% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people have been killed or injured since the war began, a figure close to the nearly 65,000 deaths reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
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UN finds Israel has committed genocide
Coinciding with the offensive, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry released a report concluding that Israel has committed four of the five acts of genocide as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention. The commission, chaired by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, cited evidence of killing, causing serious harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about destruction, and imposing measures to prevent births.
“We came to the conclusion that genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur, and the responsibility lies with the State of Israel,” Pillay stated. The report accuses top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, of inciting these acts. Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the findings, denouncing the report as “distorted and false” and accusing the commission’s experts of being “Hamas proxies.”
The ground offensive has also drawn condemnation from the families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, who protested outside the prime minister’s residence. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated, “Our loved ones in Gaza are being bombarded by the IDF under the orders of the Prime Minister.”
Meanwhile, international efforts to mitigate the crisis continue. The Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying activists and humanitarian aid, set sail from Tunisia with the aim of breaking Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza coast.
Image: CNN
