Israel launches new ground offensive into Gaza City as residents flee in droves

Israel has launched a new ground offensive into Gaza City and warned residents to leave and head south.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the ground offensive began Tuesday as troops looked to tighten control over the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

The Gaza City push is a direct continuation of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, a weekslong campaign in southern and central Gaza that Israel said dismantled Hamas positions and cleared the way for troops to advance north. The IDF said multiple divisions have begun advancing under an "expanded ground operation" designed to dismantle Hamas infrastructure, consolidate earlier gains and push deeper into the city.

ISRAEL WARNS OF IMMINENT ATTACK ON GAZA CITY, URGES RESIDENTS TO FLEE

The latest assault follows a week in which the Israeli air force struck more than 850 targets in Gaza City, killing what it described as hundreds of Hamas fighters and destroying infrastructure meant to blunt a ground incursion. The strikes, it said, were meant to degrade Hamas’s defenses and prepare the battlefield for advancing troops.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines, told The Associated Press that about 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas militants remain in Gaza City, along with a network of tunnels.

The offensive marks yet another escalation in a conflict that has roiled the Middle East as any potential ceasefire feels increasingly out of reach despite months of diplomacy.

ISRAEL SET TO LAUNCH GAZA CITY OFFENSIVE: HIGH STAKES, HIGH COSTS AHEAD

Palestinian residents reported heavy strikes across Gaza City on Tuesday morning. By noon, Shifa Hospital had received the bodies of 34 people killed in the strikes, hospital official Dr. Rami Mhanna told The Associated Press. Dozens more wounded also arrived at the facility.

"A very tough night in Gaza," Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, Shifa’s director, told the AP. "The bombing did not stop for a single moment."

Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesman for the Israeli military, warned residents that Gaza City is now a "dangerous combat zone."

"For your safety, evacuate as quickly as possible to the published safe areas, by vehicle or on foot, via the Al-Rashid corridor south of Wadi Gaza," Adraee said. "Join the over 40% of the city’s residents who have already evacuated to protect their own safety and that of their loved ones."

The IDF estimates 350,000 people have fled Gaza City — roughly one-third of the city’s population before the ground offensive began. That figure contradicts a U.N. estimate issued Monday that more than 220,000 Palestinians have fled northern Gaza over the past month, following Israeli warnings to evacuate ahead of the operation.

Long lines of traffic stretched down Gaza’s coastal road Tuesday, with vehicles piled high with mattresses and belongings while others fled on foot.

The IDF said several of its frontline divisions have been mobilized for the new phase.

"In the past day, IDF troops in the Southern Command from the 98th, 162nd, and 36th Divisions, both in mandatory and reserve service, have begun expanded ground operations in Gaza City as part of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots II,’" the military said.

"The Gaza Division is operating in the security zone along the border facing the western Negev communities and operating in the Rafah and Khan Yunis areas, while the 99th Division is operating in the northern Gaza Strip."

Meanwhile, the State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Doha with Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Rubio reaffirmed U.S.–Qatar ties, thanked Doha for efforts to end the war in Gaza and bring all hostages home. Rubio also reiterated America’s support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.