Israel Expands Gaza Ground Offensive Following ‘Intense Bombing of Refugee Camps'

The latest escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began in early October, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip. Israel retaliated with indiscriminate strikes and imposed a complete blockade on Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced the expansion of its ground offensive in Gaza, specifically targeting urban refugee camps situated in the central area.

Tuesday's announcement of a new battle zone came as residents of central Gaza referred to shelling and airstrikes that rocked the Nuseirat, Maghazi and Bureij camps, where they reportedly shared "the bombing was very intense."

The Israeli military ordered the residents to evacuate so that they could move to the nearby Deir al-Balah camp. The UN humanitarian office reported that the area where the evacuation was ordered was home to nearly 90,000 people before the start of the IDF ground incursion. According to the UN, the area is currently home to more than 61,000 displaced persons, mostly from northern Gaza.

Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was quoted by a British radio station as saying that the agency is "seeing very worrying reports of hunger and starvation in some places, and meanwhile the [Gaza]war continues, the displacement continues and UN shelters are overcrowded and overwhelmed."

In a separate development on Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told reporters that the war in Gaza would continue "for many more months" to ensure that Israel's ''achievements are preserved for a long time."

"There are no shortcuts when it comes to thoroughly dismantling a terrorist organization, except to be stubborn and determined in the fighting," he added, in an apparent reference to Hamas, which is blacklisted by Tel Aviv as a terrorist group.

Halevi was echoed earlier by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who promised that the IDF would not reduce the intensity of the fighting and would "deepen operations in southern Gaza.''

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, for his part, denounced the Gaza war as a "grave crime" against his people, something he said was "beyond a catastrophe" and "beyond a war of annihilation." Abbas also accused Washington of prolonging the war by vetoing draft UN resolutions calling for a cease-fire.

He spoke as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said at least 241 civilians had been killed and 382 others wounded in Gaza in the past 24 hours. The ministry said at least 20,915 Palestinians - mostly children and women - have died in more than 11 weeks of Israeli bombardment.

On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a large-scale surprise rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaching the border, murdering and kidnapping people in neighboring Israeli communities. Tel Aviv retaliated with indiscriminate strikes and launched a ground incursion into Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas fighters.