Israel has launched a ground offensive to occupy Gaza City, intensifying bombardment on the Strip’s largest city and issuing a new evacuation order for its people.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is heading to Qatar, following a trip to Israel, in the wake of the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha last week, which killed 5 group members and a Qatari security officer.
Gaza City Ground Operation
The Israeli military started a ground offensive to occupy Gaza City on Monday, according to Axios and CNN. Meanwhile, Palestinian press reports in Gaza said that Israel launched heavy airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday evening, after which Israeli tanks entered the city.
An Israeli military official told Axios that Israeli ground forces entered the city on Monday, with more troops to join in the coming days. Another official told CNN that the ground invasion of Gaza City will be “phased and gradual” at the beginning.
The Israeli operation follows a week of intensified airstrikes in the city and the destruction of high-rise towers, which Israel claimed Hamas was using for military purposes. According to health authorities in Gaza, Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 38 people, including children.
Early on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said that “Gaza is burning,” adding that the Israeli military is striking “terror infrastructure” to “create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” he posted on X.
Moreover, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, acknowledged the operation had started. “We began an intense operation yesterday in Gaza,” he told court during his opening testimony for his ongoing corruption trial.
Rubio-Netanyahu Meeting
The operation started shortly after a meeting between the US State Secretary, Marco Rubio, Netanyahu and members of his cabinet.
According to two senior Israeli officials cited by Axios, Rubio conveyed to Netanyahu that the Trump administration supports the ground offensive but it must end quickly. Meanwhile, an American official said that the US will not stop Israel but Netanyahu should assume responsibility for his decisions on the war in Gaza.
The US President, Donald Trump, warned Hamas to release the remaining hostages after the Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that the Palestinian group has moved hostages to buildings above the ground to use them as human shields.
“I hope the Leaders of Hamas know what they’re getting into if they do such a thing. This is a human atrocity, the likes of which few people have ever seen before. Don’t let this happen or, ALL ‘BETS’ ARE OFF. RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES NOW!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Rubio Heading to Qatar
After his two-day trip to Israel, Rubio will travel to Qatar to meet with its Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in a bid to reaffirm the US’ full support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty following Israel’s strike in Doha.
Speaking to reporters at Ben Gurion Airport before departing to the Gulf country, the US State Secretary said that Qatar “is still the only country able to mediate on Gaza,” adding that Washington prefers that war ends through a “negotiated settlement,” according to the Associated Press (AP).
“The only thing worse than a war is a protracted one that goes on forever and ever. At some point, this has to end. At some point, Hamas has to be defanged, and we hope it can happen through a negotiation,” he noted.
Furthermore, Rubio suggested that Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza City had begun. “Well, as you saw the Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen,” he said.
Israeli Protests
Netanyahu launched the offensive in Gaza City despite warnings from the Israeli Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, and the heads of Mossad, Shin Bet and military intelligence that the operation could put the lives of the hostages in danger, overstretch the Israeli troops, and force Israel into military rule of the Strip.
In the light of this, the hostage families protested outside Netanyahu’s home overnight, warning against the risks of Gaza City operation. “The Prime Minister is consciously choosing to sacrifice them on the altar of political considerations, in complete disregard of the position of the Chief of Staff and the security authorities,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement organized protests in Jerusalem, outside a conference of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, demonstrating against the Gaza City operation.
“Occupying Gaza will lead to the murder of the living hostages and the disappearance of those who are deceased. The reality has never been clearer and more dangerous – military pressure kills hostages and soldiers. We will not let Netanyahu and his government of death decree a political eternal government over us. An agreement to return all the hostages and end the war – now,” they said.
