Israel expands rings of fire in southern Gaza… and fighting rages on the ground

The Israeli occupation army has concentrated its intensive raids in the south of the Gaza Strip, for the first time since the start of the war in the Strip, after attacks had previously concentrated in the north, indicating the expansion of operations land towards the South.

The Israeli army has carried out hundreds of raids in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, setting up rings of fire in areas of the south that were supposed to be safe. Added to this was the division of the Strip into small residential squares, in contrast to the old plan according to which the army operated, which was based on the division of the Strip into two parts, north and south.

Sources from the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli attempts were detected from the direction of Kissufim, northeast of Khan Yunis, towards the “Al-Mahathin” roundabout, but fierce resistance thwarted it .

The sources explained that the progress indicates Israel’s attempt to separate the center of the Strip from the south, and thus divide the Gaza Strip into 3 sections, not two, which makes it easier to divide each area into squares.

The Israeli army confirmed that it carried out intensive raids in Gaza, targeting more than 400 targets across the Strip, including 50 targets in the Khan Yunis area, including alleged Hamas infrastructure and an Islamic Jihad mosque .

Israeli media said Khan Yunis was targeted because some Hamas leaders are believed to be in the city, pointing to the Israeli military’s plans to expand ground operations there.

On Saturday evening, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that the Israeli army chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, and the head of the internal security service, Ronan Bar, had approved military plans to continue fighting in the Gaza Strip during the their meeting on Saturday. The authority quoted Halevy as saying during the meeting: “We are focusing on further dismantling Hamas and creating conditions for the return of more abductees.”

This occurred at a time when Israel divided the Strip into squares.

On Saturday, the Israeli army began using a map that divides the Gaza Strip into hundreds of small areas, including the southern part of Gaza, where ground forces are expected to operate as the Israeli army expands its offensive.

The army wants to use this map instead of calling for a mass evacuation, as it did in northern Gaza.

Israeli army spokesman in Arabic, Lieutenant Colonel Avichai Adraee, on platform “X,” asked Palestinians in several areas of northern Gaza, including Jabalia, Shuja’iya and Zaytoun, to evacuate to “known shelters.” in Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah areas in Gaza City.

He also called on Palestinians in several areas in the southern Gaza Strip, including Khirbet Khuza’a, Abasan, Bani Suhaila and Ma’an – near the Israeli border – to go to shelters in Rafah.

The Israeli army also asked Palestinians to pay attention to the numbers in their areas and to follow the updates it releases.

The attempt to divide the Strip into squares raises fears of the existence of long-term plans for the army in the Gaza Strip, based on square-to-square work.

A senior Israeli official said Israel would launch a high-intensity operation in the coming weeks, then a lower-intensity operation.

Violent Israeli bombing hit large areas of Gaza and destroyed an entire residential square in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza city.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Civil Defense Service in the Gaza Strip announced the recovery and rescue of over 300 Palestinian citizens in Shuja’iya after targeting a populated residential square in the Shuja’iya neighborhood.

The Gaza government press office described what happened in Shujaiya as a terrible massacre that affected 50 residential buildings and houses.

As casualties continue to decline, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Saturday that the death toll from Israeli raids in the Strip since October 7 has risen to 15,207 Palestinians. Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra told a news conference that the number of infections in the same period had risen to 40,000.

The escalation of the attack on Gaza came as the Mossad announced that its chief, David Barnea, had instructed his negotiating team in the Qatari capital, Doha, to return to Israel after ongoing negotiations with the Qatari mediator they had faltered to discuss the resumption of the truce in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of the remaining Israeli women detained in the Strip and children.

A statement released by the Mossad said that the Hamas movement had not implemented its part of the agreement, which included the release of all children and women according to the list presented to the movement and approved by it. The statement indicates that the head of the Mossad thanks the head of the CIA, the Egyptian intelligence minister and the prime minister of Qatar for their cooperation in the enormous mediation efforts that led to the release of 84 children and women from the Gaza Strip, in addition to 24 foreigners.

Israel’s Kan channel said Hamas’s demand to proceed with the release of abducted adults in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners convicted of murder was what prevented the truce from being extended on Friday morning. Israeli sources said Israel was ready to extend the truce for a day in exchange for the release of the women and children. In an interview with a Kan correspondent he explained that after four days at most it will not be possible to discuss a truce, because the army will be in the middle of the second phase of the war.

Israel says around 135 hostages remain in Gaza, including 16 children and women, but Hamas says the remaining women under its control are conscripts and are not treated the same as civilian women.

As Israeli bombing expanded, the ground battles expanded and intensified.

Palestinian fighters clashed with the Israeli army near Khan Yans and Deir al-Balah and in the areas of Sheikh Radwan, Al-Karama, Al-Nasr, Al-Atatra, Al-Shati Camp, Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and others areas.

The “Qassam Brigades” claimed to have targeted enemy concentrations east of Magin and bombarded the sites of “Kissufim”, “Kibbutz Nirim”, Third Eye and Ashkelon with a missile barrage, as well as concentrations of “Zakim ”, “Kissufim” ”, and Deir al-Balah with the 114 mm caliber “Rajum” short-range missile system, and targeted an enemy command and reconnaissance room inside a building east of Beit Hanoun with 4 anti-personnel shells.

Al-Qassam announced the bombing of Tel Aviv with a missile salvo, underlining that it had also targeted a tank with a “Shawaz” bomb, causing several explosions inside and completely destroying it, and the turret of another tank with an IED “Al-A Yassin 105” projectile and a “D9” bulldozer with an “Al-Yassin 105” projectile. In the Juhr al-Dik area, east of the central region, as well as targeting a house where some enemy soldiers were located, with an anti-fortified TBG projectile, in the Sheikh Radwan area.

Al-Qassam claimed to have placed an Israeli infantry force stationed inside a building in a narrow ambush in the Al-Tawam area, northwest of Gaza, and targeted it with anti-personnel bombs, anti-fortified shells and heavy machine guns, confirming that members of the force were killed or wounded.

In light of developments in Gaza, the United Nations warned that the fighting would worsen the grave humanitarian emergency. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, said: “Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza.”

The commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, also warned that “the Israeli attack on the southern Gaza Strip could push a million refugees towards the border Egyptian”.

The UN official added: “If there is fighting, Gazans will likely want to flee to the southern regions and across the border.”