JERUSALEM: Israel unleashed a massive new bombing campaign on Gaza City on Tuesday (Sep 16) after visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the ally’s goal of eradicating Hamas and warned that only days may be left for a diplomatic solution.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said early on Tuesday that Gaza City, the territory’s main urban hub, was “on fire”.
“We will not relent and we will not back down until the mission is accomplished,” Katz said.
Witnesses told AFP of heavy, relentless bombing on Gaza City, much of which is already in rubble after nearly two years of Israeli bombardment since the Oct 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
“We can hear their screams,” said 25-year-old resident Ahmed Ghazal.
Rubio on Monday offered robust backing for the offensive as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has asked the Israeli military to seize Gaza City.
Pointing to the fresh operations, Rubio told reporters as he left Israel: “We think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go.”
Rubio said a diplomatic solution in which Hamas demilitarises remained the US preference, although he added: “Sometimes when you’re dealing with a group of savages like Hamas, that’s not possible, but we hope it can happen.”
Rubio, who met on Monday in Jerusalem with families of hostages in Gaza, acknowledged that Hamas had leverage by holding them.
“If there were no hostages and no civilians in the way, this war would have ended a year and a half ago,” he said at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
A group representing hostages families said they were “terrified” for their loved ones after Netanyahu ordered the strikes.
“He is doing everything to ensure there is no deal and not to bring them back,” they said in a statement.
