By Athena Papakosta

Israeli forces have pushed even deeper into the northern part of the Gaza Strip, entering the Palestinian enclave from three different points with tanks “cutting” the route leading to the south in order to break up Hamas forces.

Last Friday, the second phase of the war began, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it, after three weeks of heavy bombing.

Early Monday afternoon, a tank was recorded by a group of journalists targeting, opening fire and blowing up a vehicle on the central Salah Al Din road connecting the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

The spokesman for the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF), Daniel Hagari, when asked by reporters during their regular briefing, declined to provide more information.

“We have expanded our operations to include armored, infantry and other offensive operations inside the Gaza Strip in order to achieve our two primary objectives of countering Hamas and securing the return of the hostages.” As he explained, “while I cannot share specific information, I can assure you that the safety of our forces remains our top priority.”

The Israel Defense Forces expanded ground operations inside the Gaza Strip overnight, killing what it said were dozens of Hamas fighters while destroying an additional 600 “terrorist targets” within 24 hours including anti-tank missile launch sites, weapons caches and hideouts. .

The same time, new bombings are recorded near Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City where doctors and nurses repeat that it is impossible to carry out the order of the Israeli army and evacuate the building in which hundreds are being treated and thousands of displaced people have found shelter in it.

According to the Israeli military, Hamas operates near public buildings, including hospitals. For its part, the Islamic Palestinian organization denies the accusations.

Benjamin Netanyahu, in a new press conference he gave on Monday night, this time chose to speak in English and in response to the international community’s calls for a cease-fire, he emphasized that: “calls for a cease-fire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to brutality’ and made it clear that ‘that will not happen’. As he said, “the Bible says that there is a time of peace and a time of war. This is the moment of war.”

And comparing the attack of Hamas against Israel on October 7 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the terrorist attack of September 11 in the USA, he emphasized that “this is the moment when all of us must decide whether we want to fight for a future with hope or to surrender to tyranny and terror.”

He repeated that “Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want this war. But, Israel will win this war.”

According to the analysts, the movements of the Israeli side do not betray the ground operation that most imagined, however, they add, that the objectives are specific and concern a gradual expansion of the IDF’s advance within the Palestinian enclave with “surgical movements”.

For now, the Israel Defense Forces remain for another 24 hours inside the Gaza Strip, but Hamas lurks in the tunnels while the ceasefire is rejected and terror reigns. After all, as the Israeli Prime Minister said yesterday, this “is the time of war”.