Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the Israeli army launched the first phase of its ground invasion of Gaza City . “We are advancing efforts for action in Gaza City. We already have forces operational on the outskirts of the city, and other forces will join them later,” announced Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), this morning. “Our missions remain the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas; we will not stop and will not rest until we complete them. Completing these missions is essential to our future and our values as a society,” Zamir said. The official emphasizes that Israel has already dealt the Palestinian organization a"severe blow": "From the terrorist army we encountered on October 7th, it has become a guerrilla organization. We will continue to strike Hamas everywhere, to persecute it as long as necessary and wherever necessary," he promises.

Evacuation Call – Residents are already fleeing the Strip's main city, while hundreds are moving from the suburbs of Zeitoun and Sabra to the northwestern part of the city. The army said it had warned"medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip... to prepare for the evacuation of the population" to the southern part of the enclave. The evacuation call was rejected by the enclave's Ministry of Health, which expressed"its rejection of any initiative that could undermine what remains of the healthcare system after the systematic destruction perpetrated by the occupation authorities. Such a measure would deprive more than a million people of their right to medical care and expose the lives of residents, patients, and the injured to imminent danger," it said in a statement.

The Guardian investigation (denied by the IDF) – Meanwhile, Israel's raids continue. According to Al Jazeera, which cites medical sources, at least 48 Palestinians have been killed in attacks since dawn today, eight of them waiting for humanitarian aid. According to the Gaza Strip's Health Ministry, since Israel entrusted the distribution to the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a total of 2,036 civilians have been killed while waiting for aid and over 15,064 wounded. The UN has also denounced the victims among Gazans seeking humanitarian goods. On Thursday, the British newspaper Guardian published an investigation, conducted in collaboration with Israeli media, citing classified IDF data according to which 83% of those killed in Gaza are civilians : of the 53,000 Palestinians killed in attacks last May, in fact, only 8,900 were Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters. The Israeli military denied the content of the article, stating that"the numbers are incorrect and do not reflect the data present in the IDF systems": "During the war, continuous intelligence assessments are conducted on the number of terrorists eliminated in the Strip, based on various methods and cross-referencing from different sources," it said in a statement.

Hopes for a truce fade – Israel's official response to the truce proposal already accepted by Hamas is expected shortly. But the start of the occupation leaves no room for hope."Today's announcement by the terrorist occupation army of the start of an operation against Gaza City demonstrates a blatant contempt for the efforts made by the mediators," the Islamic movement declared on Wednesday evening. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel will take control of the Strip" anyway":"There has never been a doubt that we will not leave Hamas there," he said in an interview with Sky News Australia."This war could end today, if Hamas lays down its weapons and frees the remaining fifty hostages," he added. The goal, he maintains, is not"to occupy Gaza, but to free it from Hamas's tyranny: I think we are close to achieving this." This, however,"must mean conquering the movement's last strongholds," he emphasizes. That evening, visiting the division of the armed forces in Gaza, he announces that he has"given instructions to immediately begin negotiations for the release of all our hostages and the end of the war on terms acceptable to Israel: these two objectives—the defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages—go hand in hand," he states.

Guterres (UN):"Israel should withdraw its plan for a new settlement" – The IDF spokesman confirmed the sending of approximately sixty thousand conscription letters to enlist reservists : not all of them will be operational in the Strip, some will take up service on other fronts."We only call them up when necessary," said Chief of Staff Zamir. Yesterday Israel authorized new settlements – 3,400 homes – on Hill E1 in the West Bank , breaking the continuity of the Palestinian territories."Another nail in the coffin of a Palestinian state," declared Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. UN Secretary General António Guterres also intervened with a post on X regarding the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: “It is essential to immediately reach a ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages, avoiding the massive loss of life and destruction that a military operation would inevitably cause.” Guterres rejected the new settlements approved by Tel Aviv: “At the same time, the Israeli authorities’ decision to expand the construction of illegal settlements, which would divide the West Bank, must be revoked. Any settlement construction constitutes a violation of international law.” The construction of 3,400 housing units in the so-called E1 area in the West Bank, according to Guterres, is “an existential threat to the two-state solution.”