Gaza City under fire: Israel targets Hamas tunnels as casualties rise
Since October 7, following a deadly assault by Hamas militants that resulted in 1400 deaths and 240 hostages taken, Israel has been launching attacks on the Gaza Strip via both air and land. The main stronghold of Hamas, Gaza City, is currently besieged. The conflicts have now shifted underground.
Israel asserts that it has managed to penetrate the core of Gaza, while Hamas maintains that their militancy has wreaked heavy casualties upon Israel.
Israel's Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, emphasized the target objectives are: "Hamas terrorists in Gaza, their infrastructure, leaders, bunkers, and communications rooms". On the other side, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel's military spokesman, admitted that the Israeli combat engineering corps deployed explosives to annihilate the underground tunnel network developed by Hamas, stretching hundreds of miles underneath Gaza.
Meanwhile, sources from within Hamas have claimed that Israeli tanks met with stout resistance from Hamas fighters, who have utilized the tunnel network to stage ambushes.
Regrettably, verifying the reports from either side of the conflict has not been possible - reports Reuters.
Conflict of Interests
Israelis have expressed concerns that further military operations could potentially jeopardize the hostages, who are suspected to be confined within the tunnels. They insist they will not call for a cease-fire until the hostages are liberated. On the other hand, Hamas vows to continue fighting as long as Gaza is under assault.
"I challenge (Israel), if it has been able to record any military achievements on the ground other than killing civilians," Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Al-Jazeera.
According to reports from health services in the Hamas-controlled Gaza, over 10,000 Palestinians have lost their lives within 32 days since the launch of Israeli airstrikes on October 7. It's believed that among these, 40 percent were children.
"Gaza is indestructible and will remain as a thorn in the throat of the Americans and Zionists," he added.
Washington has sided with Israel's belief that a ceasefire would be militarily advantageous for Hamas. Nonetheless, US President Joe Biden asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should temporarily discontinue operations for humanitarian reasons.
In the imminent future, a summit of Arab and Islamic countries is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be highlighted.
