Israel says troops are ‘fighting in the heart of Gaza City’

Israeli troops are fighting in the heart of Gaza City and have destroyed Hamas headquarters, tunnels and bases, Israel has said.

“IDF (Israel Defence Forces) forces are in the heart of Gaza City. They came from the north and the south. They stormed it in full co-ordination between land, air and sea forces,” Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Minister of Defence, said, describing the city as “the biggest terrorism base built by man”, with kilometres of tunnels serving as weapons depots and hideouts.

Mr Gallant added that the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was isolated in his bunker, but did not elaborate.

The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “We’ve killed so many terrorists, both on the ground and underground, amongst them murders who planned and operated the 7 October attacks. We’ve destroyed many headquarters, tunnels, bases belonging to Hamas.

“Hamas is now discovering we are coming into places they never thought we would.”

The military wing of Hamas, which has ruled the small, densely populated enclave for 16 years, said its fighters were inflicting heavy losses and damage on advancing Israeli forces. It had no immediate comment on the possible fate of Mr Sinwar.

According to an Axios report citing US and Israeli officials, US President Joe Biden told Mr Netanyahu in a call on Monday that a three-day fighting pause could help secure the release of some hostages.

Under a proposal being discussed between the US, Israel and Qatar, it is thought Hamas would release 10-15 hostages and use the pause to verify the identities of all the hostages and deliver a list of names of the people it is holding.

But on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu rejected international calls for a ceasefire “until we have the hostages back home” and said that more IDF forces are “preparing themselves to get into the Gaza strip”.

“We will not stop until we win,” he said. “We will completely destroy the abilities of the Hamas, they will no longer lead the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas says it will not free hostages or stop fighting while Gaza is under attack.

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It comes after the IDF said it had secured a Hamas centre in northern Gaza, where it found anti-tank missiles and launchers, weapons and intelligence materials.

It added that naval assets had struck strategic targets belonging to Hamas including “technological assets”.

The IDF also released a video from Monday showing soldiers locating a tunnel entrance in what it said was a civilian neighbourhood in the Beit Hanoun area of north-east Gaza. “The soldiers of the Yahalom unit, in co-operation with reservists and soldiers of the Oketz unit, destroyed the tunnels,” the IDF said.

The UK-based risk analysis firm Sibylline said Israel’s ground units were continuing to progress along the coast to complete the encirclement of northern Gaza.

“Due to intense clashes, as well as ongoing air strikes and the widespread use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) to booby-trap civilian buildings, people in northern Gaza will continue to face extreme physical security risks,” it warned.

Israel also said its troops located Hamas fighters barricaded into a building next to al-Quds Hospital in south Gaza City.

“IDF soldiers directed an aircraft to strike the Hamas terrorists. The attack led to significant secondary explosions which indicate the presence of a Hamas weapons depot in a civilian area,” the IDF added.

The IDF has accused Hamas of placing explosives near civilian infrastructure, which the group denies.

In an address on Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu also threatened to escalate a conflict with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, adding: “If Hezbollah chooses to take part in this war, they will be making a mistake of a lifetime.”