GAZA CITY: Israel’s military said Tuesday (Jul 1) that it had expanded its operations in Gaza, where residents reported fierce gunfire and shelling days ahead of a planned trip to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The intensified operations came after days of mounting calls for a ceasefire, with US President Donald Trump – whom Netanyahu is slated to meet with next week – among those urging Israel to strike a new deal to halt the war and bring home the hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel’s campaign to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas has continued unabated, however, with Gaza’s civil defence agency reporting Israeli forces killed 17 people on Tuesday.
In response to reports of deadly strikes in the north and south of the territory, the Israeli army told AFP it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities”.
Separately, it said Tuesday morning that in recent days it had “expanded its operations to additional areas within the Gaza Strip, eliminating dozens of terrorists, and dismantling hundreds of terror infrastructure sites both above and below ground”.
Raafat Halles, 39, from the Shujaiya district of Gaza City, said “air strikes and shelling have intensified over the past week”, and tanks have been advancing.
“I believe that every time negotiations or a potential ceasefire are mentioned, the army escalates crimes and massacres on the ground,” he said. “I don’t know why.”
Amer Daloul, a 44-year-old resident of Gaza City, also reported fiercer clashes between Israeli forces and militants in recent days, telling AFP that he and his family were forced to flee the tent they were living in at dawn on Tuesday “due to heavy and random gunfire and shelling”.
In the southern city of Rafah, resident Mohammed Abdel Aal, 41, said “tanks are present” in most parts of town.
