Tank Holds Land Operation, Israel Opens Additional Routes For Gaza Residents To Evacuate
JAKARTA - The Israeli military opened additional routes for 48 hours that Palestinians could use to leave Gaza City as their efforts to vacate the city from civilians and confront thousands of Hamas fighters.
Hundreds of thousands of people took refuge in the city and many were reluctant to follow Israel's orders to move south due to danger along roads, poor conditions, food shortages in the southern region, and fears of permanent evacuation.
"Even if we want to leave Gaza City, is there any guarantee we can come back? Will the war end? That's why I prefer to die here, in Sabra, my neighborhood," Ahmed, a school teacher, said by telephone.
It was reported that 30 people were killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in Israel's latest attack, including 19 in Gaza City, local health authorities said.
A day after Israel announced the launch of groundstrikes to seize control of Gaza's main city center, tanks have moved in short distances towards the central and western regions of the city from three directions, but no major progress has been reported.
An Israeli official said military operations were focused on evacuating civilians to the south and fighting would intensify in the next month or two.
The official said Israel estimated around 100,000 civilians would remain in the city.
The operation could be suspended if a ceasefire was reached with the Hamas militant group.
The ceasefire outlook looked small after Israel attacked Hamas political leaders in Doha last week, which angered Qatar, one of the mediators in ceasefire negotiations, angry.
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Against global criticism of the attack, including criticism from Israel's loyal ally, the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would attack Hamas leaders anywhere.
During a visit to Doha on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "a very short time" in which a ceasefire could occur, which appeared to refer to Israel's plans to destroy Hamas with violence in Gaza.