By Ken Afor
Israeli forces began a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was the second phase of a three-week war to eliminate the Palestinian militants.
As Israeli warplanes dropped bombs and pushed troops and weapons into the Hamas-run territory, besieged Gaza residents were almost completely cut off from communications and the internet.
At a news conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Netanyahu warned Israelis to expect a “long and difficult” campaign, but stopped short of calling the current raids an occupation.
Some of US President Joe Biden’s advisers have advised Israel to immediately stop the large-scale attacks, US officials said.
Initial ground operations appear limited so far, but Netanyahu has vowed to do everything possible to rescue more than 200 American and foreign hostages held by Hamas.
“This is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear – to destroy Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home,” Netanyahu told reporters.
“We are only at the start,” he said. “We will destroy the enemy above ground and below ground.”
Following the devastating attacks by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, Israel tightened its blockade and bombarded the Gaza Strip for three weeks.
Israeli authorities say at least 1,400 Israelis were killed in the deadliest day in Israel’s 75-year history.Western countries have generally supported Israel’s right to self-defense.
But international outcry over the casualties is growing, with calls for a “humanitarian pause” to deliver aid to Gaza’s citizens and ease the humanitarian crisis.
Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, home to a population of 2.3 million, said 7,650 Palestinians had died as a result of Israel’s crackdown on Iran-backed militants.
President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules parts of the West Bank and Hamas territory in the Gaza Strip, said, “Our people in the Gaza Strip are facing a war of genocide and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in full view of the entire world.”
With many buildings destroyed and shelter hard to find, the people of Gaza face shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine. The situation worsened on Friday evening as phone and internet services were cut and shelling continued overnight. The power outage lasted until Sunday.
“God help anyone under the rubble,” said one Gaza journalist, who spent a terrifying night in a building stairway as bombs fell and Israeli forces appeared to exchange fire with Palestinian fighters.
Israel’s top military spokesman declined to say whether Israel was behind the disruption of communications in Gaza, but said the country would take the necessary steps to protect its forces.
Israel sent troops and tanks into the Gaza Strip late Friday, targeting infrastructure, including an extensive network of tunnels built by Hamas, the Israeli military said.
He did not provide details on the size of the deployment. Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated Israel’s call to evacuate Palestinian civilians from the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel has targeted Hamas shelters and other targets.
But Palestinians say nowhere is safe, and bombs are destroying homes in the densely populated south.
“A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in front of our eyes,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet on Monday on the Israel-Gaza crisis, diplomats said.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk gave the SpaceX Starlink satellite network to support communications in Gaza for “internationally recognised aid organisations.” But Israel responded that it would fight the move, saying Hamas would “use it for terrorist activities.”
Netanyahu assured families of the hostages on Saturday that contacts for their release would continue amid the ground offensive and that military pressure on Hamas would help bring them home.
Talks brokered by Qatar between Israel and Hamas continued, but at a much slower pace than Friday’s standoff in Gaza, a source familiar with the talks said.
Hamas’ armed wing said its fighters battled Israeli troops in northeastern and central Gaza. “Al-Qassam Brigades and all Palestinian resistance forces are fully prepared to confront the aggression with full force and thwart the incursions,” it said.
The United States and other Western countries, concerned about heavy casualties in Palestine and the escalating conflict, have called on Israel to delay a large-scale ground attack and allow more time for hostage negotiations. But US officials said Israel would make the decision.
After fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate into a regional conflict, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters that Israel has no interest in expanding the war beyond the Gaza Strip, but is prepared on all fronts.
The crisis brought hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters to cities across Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Saturday.
