Israel steps up Gaza City bombing after Netanyahu vow to expand the offensive
An airstrike also killed six journalists, including prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al Sharif in a tent at Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital compound, the deadliest strike against journalists during an Israeli campaign that has lasted more than 22 months.
Witnesses said Israeli tanks and planes pounded Sabra, Zeitoun, and Shejaia, three eastern suburbs of Gaza City in the north of the territory, on Monday, pushing many families westwards from their homes.
Some Gaza City residents said it was one of the worst nights in weeks, raising fears of military preparations for a deeper offensive into their city, which Hamas says is now sheltering about 1 million people after the displacement of residents from the enclave's northern edges.
The Israeli military said its forces fired artillery at Hamas militants in the area. There was no sign on the ground of forces moving deeper into Gaza City as part of the newly approved Israeli offensive, which was not expected to begin in the coming weeks.
"It sounded like the war was restarting," said Amr Salah, 25. "Tanks fired shells at houses, and several houses were hit, and the planes carried out what we call fire rings, whereby several missiles landed on some roads in eastern Gaza," he told Reuters via a chat app.
The Israeli military said its forces on Sunday dismantled a launch site east of Gaza City, which Hamas used to fire rockets towards Israeli communities across the border.
Netanyahu on Sunday said he had instructed the Israeli military to speed up its plans for the new offensive.
"I want to end the war as quickly as possible, and that is why I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to shorten the schedule for seizing control of Gaza City," he said.
Netanyahu said the new offensive would focus on Gaza City, which he described as Hamas' "capital of terrorism". He also indicated that the coastal area of central Gaza may be next, saying Hamas militants have been pushed there too.
The new plans have raised alarm abroad, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying on Monday they heralded "a disaster of unprecedented gravity" and "a move towards a never-ending war".
On Friday, Germany, a key European ally, announced it would halt exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza. Britain and other European allies urged Israel to reconsider its decision to escalate the Gaza military campaign.
Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, told Reuters that some countries appeared to be putting pressure on Israel rather than on Hamas, whose deadly attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, ignited the war.
Israel's planned offensive coincides with worsening hunger in Gaza.
On Monday, the territory's health ministry said five more people had died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours. That raised the number of deaths from such causes to 222, including 101 children, since the war began, the ministry said.
Israel says it has scaled up the entry of aid and commercial goods into Gaza in past weeks. Palestinian and UN officials say the aid is a fraction of what Gaza needs.
JOURNALISTS KILLED
Medics at Al Shifa Hospital said the airstrike that killed Al Jazeera's Al Sharif and four of his colleagues also killed local freelancer Mohammad Al-Khaldi, raising the number of dead journalists from the strike to six.
Israel confirmed it had targeted and killed Al Sharif, alleging he had headed a Hamas cell and was involved in rocket attacks against Israel.
Al Jazeera rejected the claim, and before his death Al Sharif had also dismissed Israeli allegations that he had links to Hamas.
Hamas, the militant group which has run Gaza since 2007, linked his killing to the new planned offensive.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 238 journalists have been killed in almost two years of war. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 186 journalists have been killed.
Hamas-led fighters triggered the war in October 2023, when they stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies. About 50 hostages are still in Gaza, but only around 20 are thought to be alive.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel's campaign, according to Gaza health officials. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced multiple times and its residents are facing a humanitarian crisis, with swaths of the territory reduced to rubble.
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ISRAEL'S GLOBAL PARTNERS DISTANCING THEMSELVES With images of starving children in Gaza dominating the news in recent weeks, many of Israel's friends in the Western alliance have similarly reached the point at which they can no longer tolerate its policy actions. In a major shift in global opinion, France announced it would recognise Palestinian statehood in September. The United Kingdom and Canada vowed to follow suit. Even Germany has now begun the process for recognition. And Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated his country's recognition of Palestine was only a matter of time. Spain and Sweden have called for the suspension of the European Union's trade agreement with Israel, while the Netherlands has officially labelled Israel a 'security threat', citing attempts to influence Dutch public opinion. Israel and the US have rejected all these accusations and moves. The momentum against Israel in the international community, however, has left it with the US as its only major global supporter. Israel's sovereignty, security and prosperity now ride on the back of America's continued support. Without US assistance, in particular its billions of dollars' worth of arms exports, Israel would have struggled to maintain its devastating Gaza campaign or occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Yet, despite Trump's deep commitment to Israel, many in the US electorate are seriously questioning the depth of Netanyahu's influence in Washington and the value of US aid to Israel. According to a Gallup poll in March, fewer than half of Americans are sympathetic toward Israel. This discontent has also been voiced by some of Trump's MAGA ideologues and devotees, such as political strategist Steve Bannon and congressional hardliner Marjorie Taylor Greene. 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This indicates that not only the Israeli state, but also its electorate, has moved to the extreme of the political spectrum in relation to acknowledging the right of the Palestinians to an independent state of their own. Under international pressure, Netanyahu has expediently allowed a little more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. However, his new plan for a full military takeover of Gaza indicates he is not prepared to change course in the war, as long as US support remains steady. His government is bent on eliminating Hamas and potentially depopulating and annexing Gaza, followed possibly by the West Bank. Such a move would render the idea of a two-state solution totally defunct. To stop this happening, Washington needs to align with the rest of the global community. Otherwise, an unrestrained and isolated Israel will only widen the rift between the US and its traditional allies in a highly polarised world.
