Young Palestinians walk in front of a damaged house in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Israeli forces and tanks launched an assault on Gaza’s main northern city from both sides on Monday. This came three days after initiating a significant ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave. The escalation of the conflict has prompted increased international appeals for the protection of civilians caught in the crossfire.
Israel’s military reported striking more than 600 militant targets in the past few days as they expanded their ground operations in the Gaza Strip. In this dire situation, Palestinian civilians are in desperate need of fuel, food, and clean water as the conflict enters its fourth week. Islamist militants, including the Islamic Jihad group fighting alongside Gaza’s ruling Hamas, have been resisting Israeli advances.
“The duty today is to fight, and fight we shall,” declared the Islamic Jihad militant group, emphasizing that now is not the time for a ceasefire.
The Israeli military confirmed the elimination of four prominent Hamas operatives and noted that IDF troops had engaged in intense combat with militants who had barricaded themselves in buildings and tunnels, attempting to attack the Israeli forces.
Both sides refrained from commenting on the reports from the opposing camp.
Israel continued to issue warnings to civilians in the north of the densely populated Gaza enclave to relocate to the south as they initiated their advance into Gaza. Their goal is to pursue Hamas militants believed to be hiding in a complex network of tunnels beneath Gaza City.
Despite the risks, many Palestinians have chosen to stay in their homes, fearing a fate similar to that of previous generations who were displaced by the conflict. The ongoing Israeli aerial strikes further south have exacerbated their concerns.
Fadi, a resident of the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City’s northern outskirts, expressed their determination to stay, even in the face of the ground offensive. “The entire place here is full of people. No one in the entire neighborhood has left. We are staying, whether tanks or planes. There will not be another displacement of Palestinians. That is our decision, even if it means martyrdom.”
On Monday, residents reported dozens of Israeli airstrikes on the eastern side of Gaza City. Some noted the sound of tanks on the move, accompanied by exchanges of fire. Social media posts appeared to show an Israeli tank on the main Salahudeen Road connecting the city to the southern part of the enclave.
Later, it was reported that the tanks had retreated toward the fortified boundary fence surrounding Gaza. Hamas’ armed wing cited intense mortar fire as the reason, and fellow militants from Islamic Jihad confirmed that they were engaged in a battle with Israeli forces at the border.
To the west, the coastal road of the narrow enclave was hit repeatedly from the air and sea, with Israeli forces on the ground to the north, according to residents.
Reports of airstrikes near three major hospitals in Gaza City emerged on Monday, with Palestinian health officials confirming the impacts. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 117,000 civilians were taking shelter alongside patients and medical staff in hospitals in the north.
Israel has accused Hamas of locating command centers and weaponry near hospitals, a claim denied by the group. Residents, fearing for their lives, questioned where they could go for safety, with one stating, “It is all one death.”
In the south, airstrikes shook the town of Rafah, near Gaza’s sole operational border crossing with Egypt, as well as east of Khan Younis, where clashes between Hamas and Israeli troops were reported.
The conflict has led to significant global demonstrations in support of the Palestinians, but it has also resulted in increasing incidents of antisemitic and Islamophobic harassment and attacks.
In Russia, authorities reported taking over an airport in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region, arresting 60 people after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed the facility in search of Jewish passengers from a plane arriving from Israel.
Israel’s widening ground attacks on Gaza have led to international calls for a “humanitarian pause” to allow unimpeded aid delivery. Drastic shortages have triggered civil unrest, with people storming aid stores in search of food. Civil disorder has rendered four UN aid distribution centers and a storage facility inoperative, according to UNRWA.
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