Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said Tuesday that the army is once again focusing its offensive on the Gaza Strip after entering a new phase with Iran's theocratic regime "based on the achievements of the current one," after the ceasefire between the two came into effect after 12 days of war.
“Now the focus is back on Gaza, to bring the hostages home and dismantle the Hamas regime,” Zamir said during an assessment of the situation held on Tuesday following the ceasefire with Iran.
He stressed that Israel has concluded a"significant phase" of its campaign against Iran, asserting that it has delayed Iran's nuclear project and missile program"for years," although he did not declare the offensive over.
“We have entered a new phase based on the achievements of the previous one,” he emphasized, noting that the Army has “many challenges ahead,” so they must remain focused and “not rest on their laurels.”
Zamir took the opportunity to applaud the work of the armed forces in the offensive against Iran."Every command, directorate, and branch of the Army contributed to the success of the operation, either through direct participation in the Iranian operation or through defense in their respective areas," he said.
US President Donald Trump announced early this morning that Israel and Iran had agreed to a fire, information that both countries confirmed, although shortly after Tel Aviv and Tehran accused each other of launching missiles .
The region has seen an escalation of violence since June 13, when Israel began an offensive against military facilities and the Iranian nuclear program, in a series of attacks that were responded to by Iran.
As tensions between Iran and Israel grew, the Israeli offensive against Gaza continued, reaching 56,000 dead by Israeli fire and 131,848 wounded in the Strip since the war began in October 2023.
On Tuesday alone, at least 47 Gazans were shot dead by the Israeli army near humanitarian aid distribution points run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to data distributed by hospitals in the Strip.
Of the dead, 19 arrived at Al Awda Hospital in Nuseirat and seven at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, both in the center of the enclave, as a result of gunfire near the GHF distribution point near the Bureij refugee camp.
The other 19 arrived at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field hospital in Rafah (southern Gaza), and “were injured while heading to one of the two aid distribution points” that the GHF (backed by Israel and the United States) has in this area.
“Today, the 60-bed Red Cross field hospital in Rafah received a mass casualty influx of 149 cases. Tragically, 16 were declared dead on arrival and three others died of their wounds shortly after,” the ICRC announced on social media site X.
Another 10 dead arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on Tuesday, the result of another army firefight, this time while they were waiting for UN aid trucks along the road.
The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Thameen al-Kheetan, denounced this Tuesday that the population of Gaza continues to face the"inhumane situation" of having to decide whether to "die of hunger" or "risk being killed while trying to obtain food."
This population, he said, is"hungry" and facing a "desperate situation," while warning that the Israeli army has been "shooting at Palestinians trying to obtain food at distribution points adopted by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation."
"This has resulted in many deaths, including through UN convoys and other humanitarian organizations," he said in a statement, which estimated the number of injuries in these incidents at around 3,000.
