
Israel tightens siege on Gaza City, dozens killed in raids
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The IDF advances on the outskirts of the city. Smotrich pushes for a tougher operation while Netanyahu focuses on conquest to save his government
The Israeli army continues its occupation of Gaza City. Defence Forces spokeswoman Effie Defrin said that the IDF ‘already controls the outskirts of the city’ and that troops are advancing. According to Israeli Channel 12, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged military leaders to speed up operations: “You can besiege them. Without water, without electricity, they can starve or surrender. That’s what we want. Don’t you want to defeat Hamas?”, he reportedly told Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
Netanyahu’s position
According to sources cited by the Maariv newspaper, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aware that the stability of his government depends on the advance on Gaza City. ‘The impression is that he is continuing with the operation because he understands that without it, the government would collapse,’ said a source in the Israeli Defence Ministry.
The clashes in Gaza
Gaza City remains the political and military heart of Hamas and is home to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Latin community, reported ‘explosions towards the southern side of the El Zeytoun neighbourhood,’ noting that the area had not received evacuation orders.
The death toll
Meanwhile, the death toll from Israeli raids is rising. Today, Saturday 23 August, at least 34 Palestinians have been killed in bombings since dawn, al-Jazeera reports. Seventeen people were killed in an attack on refugee tents in Khan Yunis, including eight who were trying to receive aid. Four children were killed and several others wounded, according to medical sources at the Kuwaiti hospital in Gaza. Another raid on the Maghazi refugee camp in the centre of the Strip left two dead and several wounded.
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(Photo: © AndKronos)