Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Israel’s plans to attack Gaza City via land are starting to emerge. Israeli tanks and infantry have advanced into the area from two directions, and tanks are reported to be on the main north-south road.

Reports in Israeli media, statements from Hamas, as well as Palestinian witness accounts, describe Israeli armored vehicles operating near the Mediterranean coast north of Gaza, one of the areas where Hamas is involved in heavy fighting.

Witnesses said Israeli tanks had advanced to cut off the main north-south Salah al-Din road south of Gaza City and were operating on the outskirts of Gaza City’s Zaytun district and Shejaiya neighborhood.

Video taken by a local journalist shows an Israeli tank and bulldozer in central Gaza blocking a main highway and shooting at a car, which is then seen exploding.

Describing the increasing tempo of fighting in urban areas, Israel Defense Forces spokesman R Admiral Daniel Hagari said his troops were engaged in fighting with Palestinian armed factions hiding inside buildings.

“Overnight, troops eliminated dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in buildings and tried to attack troops moving towards them,” he said, adding that fighting was still continuing, as quoted The GuardianTuesday (31/10/2023).

In one incident, the Israeli military said a fighter jet had targeted a building “that housed more than 20 Hamas terrorist members inside”, while another fighter jet was guided to an anti-tank missile launch post in the area of ​​al-Azhar University, the campus of which is located the heart of Gaza City.

The military also said it had struck “weapons depots, dozens of anti-tank missile launch positions, as well as hideouts and hideouts used by the Hamas terrorist organization”.

Meanwhile the UN and medical staff in Gaza warned that airstrikes had occurred near hospitals where tens of thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter along with thousands of injured people.

In the heart of Gaza City itself, footage from Dar al-Shifa hospital showed recently deceased people lying on the ground in white shrouds. Some of the shrouds contained the dismembered remains of several people.

Dozens of bodies could not be identified – in some cases because entire families had been killed – and had to be buried in mass graves. “We don’t know their identities on earth, but they are known in heaven,” said Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas-run media office.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(luc/luc)