Hamas says Israel making 'aggressive' incursions into Gaza City
GAZA CITY
A Hamas official said yesterday that Israeli forces were making "aggressive" incursions into Gaza City, after the military approved the framework for a new offensive in the territory.
"The Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City," Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, told AFP.
"These assaults represent a dangerous escalation aimed at imposing a new reality on the ground by force, through a scorched earth policy and the complete destruction of civilian property."
The expanded offensive came after Israeli military said yesterday it had approved the framework for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The approval follows the security cabinet's call for the seizure of Gaza's largest city, after 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.
Israeli Prime Benjamin Minister Netanyahu's government did not immediately provided a precise timetable.
Sabah Fatoum, 51, who lives in a tent in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City told AFP by phone that "the explosions are massive" in the area.
There are "many air strikes and tanks are advancing in the southern area of Tal al-Hawa with drones above our heads," she said.
"The tanks are still there, and I saw dozens of civilians fleeing" to the west of the city, she added.
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, with the residential neighborhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit "with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings."
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes or fire had killed at least 35 people across Gaza yesterday.
Israel's plans to expand its offensive into Gaza City come as diplomacy aimed at securing an elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal has stalled for weeks, after the latest round of negotiations broke down in July.
Egypt said on Aug. 12 it was working with fellow Gaza mediators Qatar and the United States to broker a 60-day truce "with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees, and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions, without conditions."
Hamas said early yesterday that a senior delegation had arrived in Cairo for "preliminary talks" with Egyptian officials.
Israel's plans to expand the Gaza war have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition.
