GAZA – Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday into the Shejaia neighbourhood of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said.
Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaia four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said.
Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his position that there was no substitute for achieving victory in the war against Hamas, according to Reuters.
“Our forces are operating in Rafah, Shejaia, everywhere in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of terrorists are being eliminated every day. This is a difficult fight that is being waged above ground, sometimes in hand-to-hand combat, and below ground as well,” Netanyahu said.
“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he added.
The Israeli military said forces operating in Shejaia had over the past day killed several Palestinian gunmen. Israeli forces located military infrastructure inside a United Nations school and discovered dozens of weapons and “valuable intelligence documents”, the military also said.
On Saturday the military announced the death of two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.
At another raid in Shejaia, the forces located a “terrorist war room” at a clinic, said the military, which again accused Hamas of “embedding itself in civilian structures for terror purposes”.
Hamas denies using civilian sites such as schools and hospitals for military purposes.
The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shejaia and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there.
More than eight months into Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza, militants continue to stage attacks on Israeli forces, operating in areas that the Israeli army said it had gained control over months ago.
Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the United States, have so far failed to secure a ceasefire. Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, is eradicated.
