By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel pushed tanks deeper into Gaza City and detonated explosives-laden vehicles in one suburb as airstrikes killed at least 19 people on Monday, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.
Reports of the offensive came as the president of the world’s leading genocide scholars’ association said it had passed a resolution saying the legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
There was no immediate response from Israel on the reported offensive or on the statement from the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Israel has in the past strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
The Israeli military said its forces were continuing to fight Hamas across the enclave and over the past day had struck several military structures and outposts that had been used to stage attacks on its troops.
Residents said Israeli forces sent old armoured vehicles into the eastern parts of the overcrowded Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, then blew them up remotely, destroying several houses and forcing more families to flee.
Israel is pushing ahead with a plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, with the goal of destroying Hamas after nearly two years of war.
In leaflets dropped over Gaza City, its military told residents to head south immediately, saying the army intended to expand its offensive westward of the city.
“People are confused, stay and die, or leave towards nowhere,” Sheikh Radwan resident Mohammad Abu Abdallah told Reuters.
“It was a night of horror, explosions never stopped, and the drones never stopped hovering over the area. Many people quit their homes fearing for their lives, while others have no idea where to go,” the 55-year-old said over a chat app.
SECURITY CABINET CONVENED
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet late on Sunday to discuss a new offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as the bastion of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Local health authorities said the 14 people, including women and children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on houses in Gaza City as tanks briefly crossed into Sheikh Radwan.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on those reports.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the planned Gaza City offensive could endanger hostages still being held by Hamas. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in past weeks.
The war began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 251 taken hostage. Twenty of the remaining 48 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, and it has plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis and left much of it in ruins.
Ceasefire talks ended in July in deadlock and efforts to revive them have so far failed.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo. Additional reporting by Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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