Israeli troops stepped up ground operations in Gaza City on Wednesday, marking the second day of a ground offensive in the enclave's capital as Palestinians fled the devastated area en masse.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that it dismantled a weapons production facility belonging to the Hamas headquarters in the Gaza City area. According to the military statement, the terrorists were operating in the complex at the time of the attack, manufacturing explosives intended to harm Israeli forces in the area.
The attack resulted in secondary explosions, indicating the presence of weapons at the facility, Israeli military sources confirmed. The operation is part of what the IDF has dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots II,” led by the Southern Command with forces from the 98th and 162nd Divisions.
The Israeli military said air force and artillery units had attacked the city more than 150 times in recent days before ground troops advanced. The attacks have toppled high-rise towers in areas densely populated by tent encampments where thousands of Palestinians seek refuge. Israel claims the towers were being used by Hamas to monitor troops.
The overnight attacks killed at least 16 people, including women and children, hospital officials reported. The death toll in Gaza is approaching 65,000 Palestinians since the war began on October 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on Israel, according to health officials in the enclave.
Meanwhile, Palestinians were leaving the city en masse, some by car, others on foot. Israel opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days starting Wednesday to allow more people to evacuate.
More than half of the Palestinians killed in the overnight Israeli attacks were in famine-stricken Gaza City, including a child and his mother who died in their apartment in the Shati refugee camp, according to officials at Shifa Hospital, which received the victims.
In central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital said an Israeli strike hit a house in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp, killing three people, including a pregnant woman. Two parents and their child were also killed when a strike hit their shop in the Muwasi area west of Khan Younis town, said officials at Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The Gaza Health Ministry, meanwhile, said multiple Israeli strikes hit the Rantisi Children's Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night. It posted photos on Facebook showing the damaged roof, water tanks, and debris in a hospital hallway.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, said the attacks forced half of the approximately 80 patients to flee the facility. Approximately 40 patients, including four children in intensive care and eight premature babies, remained at the hospital, along with 30 medical staff.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the attacks, but has in the past accused Hamas of building military infrastructure inside civilian areas.
Israeli forces have carried out multiple large-scale incursions into Gaza City over the course of the war, causing massive displacement and heavy destruction, only to see the militants later regroup. This time, Israel has vowed to take control of the entire city, which experts say is experiencing famine.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that they believe there are between 2,000 and 3,000 Hamas militants remaining in Gaza City, as well as tunnels used by the group.
