Israeli soldiers attack Hamas inside tunnel network
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Israel said its forces attacked Hamas gunmen inside the Islamists’ vast tunnel network beneath Gaza, after Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, dismissed calls for a halt to fighting to ease the humanitarian crisis.
The tunnels are a key objective for Israel as it expands ground operations inside Gaza to wipe out the ruling Islamist Hamas movement following its surprise attack three weeks ago that Israeli authorities say killed more than 1,400 people.
“Over the last day, combined IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation,” the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Militants responded with anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire, it added.
“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” the IDF said.
Israeli armed forces also bombed Gaza overnight in air, sea and ground attacks, targeting northwestern areas of the Palestinian enclave where Israeli troops were operating on the ground, witnesses said on Tuesday.
The United States and Arab countries have urged Israel to delay any ground operation that would multiply the number of civilian casualties and might ignite a wider conflict.
Air raid sirens went off in the area of the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat on Tuesday and Israel’s military said it downed an approaching “aerial target”.
“There was no threat or risk to civilians,” it added.
Witnesses said Israeli forces targeted Gaza’s main north-south road on Monday and attacked Gaza City from two directions. Israel said its troops freed a soldier from Hamas captivity.
Hamas has so far released four civilians from the 240 hostages Israel says were captured in the Oct 7 attacks. Many of the hostages are believed to be held in the tunnels.
The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said militants clashed early on Tuesday with Israeli forces “invading the southern Gaza axis,” adding that four vehicles were targeted with al-Yassin 105 missiles, referring to locally produced anti-tank missiles.
The militants also targeted two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in north-west Gaza, al-Qassam said.
Reuters was unable to confirm the reports of fighting. Israel’s military had no immediate comment.
Gaza health authorities say that 8,306 people, including 3,457 minors, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct 7. UN officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless.
The mounting death toll has drawn calls from the US, Israel’s top ally, other countries and the UN for a pause in fighting to allow more humanitarian aid to reach the enclave.
Netanyahu said late on Monday that Israel would not agree to a cessation of hostilities and would press ahead with its plans to wipe out Hamas.
“Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen,” Mr Netanyahu said in televised remarks.
