IDF expands ground offensive in Gaza – DW – 12/04/2023

Israel on Monday continued to expand its offensive against the militant Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.

Fighting in the territory has intensified since Friday, when a one-week truce expired.

On Sunday, the Israeli military announced it was widening its ground operation to “all of the Gaza Strip.”

Israel carried out airstrikes on the Palestinian territory over the weekend and reported a string of rocket salvos from Gaza, most of which were intercepted.

It also urged more people to evacuate in and around the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza to avoid the fighting. 

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 15,500 people — more than half of them women and children — have been killed in the territory since October 7.

Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Germany, Israel and several other countries.

Welcome to our rolling updates on the conflict between Israel and Hamas for Monday, December 4.

On Sunday, UNICEF voiced concerns it was witnessing “massive child casualties” in southern Gaza, which it said was experiencing “the worst bombardment of the war right now.”

The Israeli military said it was expanding its ground operation against the militant Islamist Palestinian group Hamas to “every part” of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces also announced they had discovered 800 shafts leading to Hamas’ network of tunnels below Gaza since October 27, when Israel began its sustained ground offensive. They said 10,000 airstrikes had been carried out since the beginning of the war on October 7. 

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said his office will “further intensify its efforts to advance its investigations” of possible crimes by Hamas militants and Israeli forces.

The number of people killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war with Israel reached 15,523 on Sunday, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged Arab states to work together constructively for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

“All those who want to end the suffering must work together now,” she said in an interview with the German dpa news agency in Berlin.

tg/nm (Reuters, AP, AFP)