Israeli troops advanced six kilometers deep into the Strip and reached the outskirts of Gaza City.
Israel announced on Saturday that it had entered the “second phase” of its war against Hamas militants and began its ground operation in Gaza on Sunday after weeks of air strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country is prepared for a “long and difficult” battle as it seeks to eliminate and “destroy” Hamas following its brutal October 7 attack.
The expansion of the operation has already prompted new warnings from Muslim countries about the risk of a wider conflict in the region, but despite this, the IDF has penetrated six kilometers into the central part of the Gaza Strip and setting up its checkpoints.
Expanded Ground Operations
On Saturday, Israeli media released a video of IDF soldiers planting their flag on the roof of a house in Gaza. This allowed analysts and the media to understand where the Israeli ground forces were, as there was no official information about the advance of IDF soldiers.
In particular, the raising of the Israeli flag on a residential building took place in the Al-Siafa area on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The building is located three kilometers from the northern boundary of the Sector.
On the morning of October 30, Israeli tanks reached the outskirts of Gaza City and cut off the main Palestinian road from north to south. This was reported by BILD military expert Julian Repke, who was analyzing footage from the scene.
The analyst says that IDF soldiers have set up a checkpoint on Salah al-Din road. And so Israel effectively cut off Gaza City and the northern camps from the rest of the enclave.
Note that the Salah al-Din highway is the main highway in the Gaza Strip, connecting the area from the Rafah checkpoint in the south to the Erez checkpoint in the north. The road is named after a 12th century Muslim commander.
According to Repke’s estimates, on the morning of October 30, dozens of Israeli armored vehicles entered the Gaza Strip.
“We can proceed from the fact that now in the north of the Gaza Strip an area of 6-7 sq. km is under Israeli control,” he wrote.
#NewsMap
The Israeli Army penetrated 6 kilometers deep into the central Gaza Strip, set up a roadblock in Salah Al Deen and thereby effectively cut off Gaza City and the northern camps from the rest of the strip. pic.twitter.com/ck4vkruIML— Julian Roepcke🇺🇦 (@JulianRoepcke) October 30, 2023
The second direction of the IDF attack was the Al-Bureij area in the center of Gaza, the analyst said. According to him, it is not clear now how long the Israeli military will remain in Gaza. It is possible that they left the captured territory after completing combat missions, Roepke added.
Israeli tank scandal
Israeli tanks entered the outskirts of Gaza City this morning and cut off a major route, war correspondent Emanuel Fabian and eyewitnesses confirmed to The Times of Israel.
In particular, one of the local residents said that Israeli armored vehicles were spotted in the Zaytun district.
“They cut off the Salahedin road and shot at any vehicle that tried to drive on it,” the man said.
Emmanuel Fabian posted a video of an IDF tank shooting at a civilian vehicle on Salah al-Din road. This caused a wave of hate in social networks.
Footage shows IDF tanks ramming a suspicious vehicle on Salah a-Din road near Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/TtFR9mrMwk
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 30, 2023
Israel later responded to this post. The IDF explained that its soldiers could not distinguish Hamas from civilians because militants also travel in civilian vehicles.
“There is no evidence given that it is a civilian vehicle, and there is no information about the occupants inside. The terrorists use civilian infrastructure, such as cars. They do not have tanks or military jeeps,” said Israeli army spokesman Major Nir Dinar said in a statement. for The Wall Street Journal.
UN vote and regional tensions
Iran, a longtime supporter of Hamas, made fresh threats over the weekend that the current conflict risks escalating. Israel has “closed red lines” in Gaza, which “could force everyone to act,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Sunday.
US security adviser Jake Sullivan also said there was an “increased risk” of conflict expanding in the Middle East.
In this regard, Egypt and Saudi Arabia warned of the potential destabilization of security in the region after Israel’s ground operations.
At the same time, there are calls for a humanitarian pause. In particular, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting where the United Arab Emirates will seek a solution to the “humanitarian pause” in IDF fighting.
This comes after a resolution adopted by most UN member states on Friday called for a “lasting humanitarian truce” in the Gaza Strip.
New Correspondent.net on Telegram and WhatsApp. Subscribe to our channels Athletistic and WhatsApp
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.