Israel declares Gaza City 'dangerous combat zone' as ground offensive launched

Israel has declared Gaza City a ‘dangerous combat zone’ as it launched its long-awaited ground offensive on the stricken community. Attacks on the outskirts of the central Gaza quarter have begun while tankfire and airstrikes have escalated on the Strip’s largest urban centre with one million Palestinians.

It comes as the Israeli military admitted it is ‘operating with great force’ on the area, and elsewhere throughout Gaza at least 31 have been killed by troops. Israeli troops have retrieved the bodies of two hostages, that of Ilan Weiss and another, unnamed, individual, which Hamas terrorists had kept in the Gaza Strip. Mr Weiss, 56, was murdered on October 7, 2023, while defending Kibbutz Be’eri, and his corpse was taken to Gaza, according to an Israeli statement.

His daughter and wife, Noga and Shiri, were also abducted. They were released in November 2023 as part of a hostage deal. Five Palestinians killed since dawn on Friday in Gaza were in the so-called safe area of al-Mawasi which had been designated a ‘humanitarian zone’ by Israel.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the operation to seize Gaza City, “signals a new and dangerous phase” in the war. Israel's military said it suspended midday pauses to fighting, which had allowed food and aid supplies to enter from 10am to 8pm in Gaza's largest city.

In Gaza City hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering and enduring famine. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously.

“We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home - both the living and the dead.” Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants almost 22 months ago, roughly 50 remain in Gaza including 20 Israel believes to be alive.

A spokesman for Gaza's only Catholic church said some 440 people who have taken shelter there had unanimously agreed to stay, despite word that Israel was preparing to mount a new military offensive in the Palestinian territory. Farid Jubran said on Friday that their decision to stay in Gaza City's Holy Family Catholic Church was made of their own free will and "wasn't imposed on the people".

He said five clergy have also stayed in the church to assist those sheltering which include women, children and older people. But Jubran, who is currently outside of Gaza, said it's "up to them" if they want to leave the church at some point later.

The spokesman said no additional measures have been taken inside the church to bolster the safety of the people. He said "when we feel danger, people get closer to the walls or whatever, it's more protected" but that the church "doesn't have any specific defences".

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to disarm. Israel has killed two Lebanese soldiers in the Ras an-Naqoura area of southern Lebanon, blaming a technical malfunction of a drone it claimed was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. Israel has killed at least 62,966 people and wounded 159,266 in its war on Gaza. A total of 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu has been accused of advancing the war to protect his political existence. He has has faced large-scale demonstrations against his policy of not stopping the war on Gaza.