Israel has escalated its bombardment of Gaza City following a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Defence Minister Israel Katz declaring a new phase in military operations on Tuesday.
“Gaza is burning,” Katz said, adding that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were “striking terror infrastructure with an iron fist” in the devastated urban area where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering.
The intensified assault came immediately after Rubio’s departure from Israel, where he had declared the Trump administration’s “unwavering support” for Israeli operations.
Speaking to journalists as he left for Qatar, Rubio warned that Hamas had only “days and maybe a few weeks” to accept a ceasefire deal.
US warns Hamas has ‘days’ to accept ceasefire deal
“Our number one choice is that this ends through a negotiated settlement where Hamas says, ‘We’re going to demilitarise, we’re no longer going to pose a threat,'” Rubio told reporters. “Sometimes when you’re dealing with a group of savages like Hamas, that’s not possible, but we hope it can happen”.
Rubio met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday and endorsed Israel’s stated goal of eradicating Hamas.
Netanyahu defended the military’s tactics, saying, “We’re not bringing down those towers [in Gaza City] to intimidate people. Those towers are serving as Hamas strongholds”.
Palestinian residents reported heavy overnight strikes across Gaza City.
One attack on the western side killed at least five Palestinians, including two children, according to Shifa hospital, which received the bodies. Another strike hit three houses in the south-western area, with medics searching rubble for survivors.
UN rapporteur condemns Gaza City destruction campaign
A UN rapporteur on human rights, Francesca Albanese, criticised the offensive, saying its aim was to render Gaza City uninhabitable. “This is the last piece of Gaza that needs to be rendered unliveable,” she said on Monday.
The Israeli mission to the UN rejected her remarks, blaming Hamas for the destruction. However, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir reportedly has deep misgivings about the Gaza City offensive, arguing it would not destroy Hamas and would be costly in Israeli soldiers’ and hostages’ lives.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City southward, but most of the estimated one million people sheltering in the urban area have remained, either unable to move or having nowhere to go.
UN relief agency UNRWA said 10 of its buildings had been struck in the past four days, including seven schools and two clinics.
Hamas issued a statement in the early hours of Tuesday saying the Trump administration “bears direct responsibility” for the conflict’s escalation through its “blatant bias” and warned the offensive would “threaten the lives of the captured Israeli soldiers”.
There are 48 hostages remaining in Gaza from Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, with only 20 thought to be alive. Hostage families have called for a protest outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence on Tuesday morning, prompting police to close the street.
Experts, governments, United Nations agencies, and non-governmental organisations have accused Israel of carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people.
(information from The Guardian)
