Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz’s remarked on Tuesday that “Gaza is burning” after heavy strikes overnight targeted Gaza City, where Israel has planned a new military offensive.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, hinted to journalists of the commencement of the offensive before departing for Qatar following his visit to Israel.
Rubio said, “The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen.”
Meanwhile, heavy strikes on a home in western Gaza City have reportedly killed at least 12 Palestinians, including two children. It was confirmed by the Shifa hospital which the received the bodies, reports AP/UNB.
According to Dr. Rami Mhanna, the managing director of the hospital, around 90 more injured Palestinians arrived in the following six hours.
At least three more houses in the southwest of the city were struck, prompting first responders to search for survivors under the debris.
Neither the strikes nor the military operation was addressed by the Israeli military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rubio both reiterated on Monday the only possible resolution to the conflict in Gaza is through the elimination of Hamas and the release of the remaining 48 hostages, setting aside calls for an interim ceasefire in favor of an immediate end to the conflict.
Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,871 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up around half the dead.
