The Israeli military has launched a new ground and air assault in central Gaza on Tuesday, intensifying its attacks amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the region. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that fighter jets were targeting Hamas positions in the Bureij area, coinciding with ground forces operating in a targeted manner with intelligence guidance.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured during the Israeli operation, with casualties reported east of the Bureij and Al-Maghazi displacement camps. The local Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was overwhelmed with admissions, receiving more than six bodies and over 30 injured individuals, as confirmed by a CNN producer on the ground.
Among the casualties were a father and his 12-year-old son, who were killed when an artillery shell struck an apartment building east of Al Bureij, along with a boy, a girl, and a woman in her 20s. The hospital, struggling to cope with the influx of patients, called on the World Health Organization to visit and assess the situation.
Another CNN producer reported tank-fire in recent days from the east-west Netzarim corridor, which the IDF has carved through central Gaza towards neighborhoods south of Gaza City. The producer also mentioned a limited ground incursion in the same neighborhoods over the past three days.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, criticized the war’s loss of momentum and urged Israel to put more pressure on Hamas by pushing forward with its controversial operations in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah. Bennett argued that prolonging the war plays into Hamas’ hands and that the only way to achieve a ceasefire and hostage deal is to intensify pressure on the militant group.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza on October 7 in response to Hamas killing at least 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 others. Since then, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of at least 36,550 Palestinians and injured another 82,959 people, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, although CNN cannot independently verify these figures.
As the humanitarian toll of the conflict continues to rise, the international community has expressed growing concern and criticism over Israel’s actions in Gaza. Bennett acknowledged that Israel is “paying an international price” but maintained that the country is trying to conduct “the most just war in history” while prioritizing the defense of its citizens.
Credit:CNN
