Gaza Ground Offensive is Back on in Full Force BEIRUT — Israel began a ground offensive into Gaza City, military officials said Tuesday, slow-rolling into the beleaguered city from multiple directions despite international opprobrium and even as hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents remain within Gaza’s devastated confines. Weeks of intense bombardment that all but leveled the Gaza Strip’s largest urban center made way for what Israeli military officials said was the ground maneuver phase of the operation to occupy the city. “We are determined and offensive. We have defeated Hamas militarily wherever we have fought them, and we will act until Hamas rule is dismantled,” the Israeli military statement said. Two divisions — comprising tens of thousands of soldiers — began entering the city late Monday from its western flank, with two other divisions encircling the city. Some 130,000 reservists are expected to be mobilized in the coming days, the Israeli military said. “Gaza is burning,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X. “We will not relent or turn back until the mission is complete.” Residents reported the Israeli military dispatched what they called “booby-trapped robots” — armored personnel carriers filled with explosives repurposed as unmanned drones — into city neighborhoods. Military officials quoted in Israeli media say troops are proceeding with caution, with the expectation of some 2,000 Hamas fighters bunkered in the city.
