Israel deepens its operation in Gaza City, as pockets of militancy continue to dog the military
Israeli forces deepened an operation in the Gaza Strip's largest city in what the military said was meant to weed out militants, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing on Monday from an area already ravaged in the early weeks of the nine-month-long war.
The incursion into the eastern part of Gaza City expands Israel's engagement in the northern part of the beleaguered territory, an area Israel said it had seized control of months ago yet which has seen pockets of militant resurgence that have scaled back Israeli military gains and drawn forces back into such operations. Israel had ordered evacuations in the area before the raid was launched, the military said.
Heavy fighting in the area in the initial weeks of the war all but emptied out Gaza City and its environs, and the Israeli military has prevented most people from returning to their homes there. But several hundred thousands of Palestinians remain in the area, living in the shells of their homes or shelters. The fresh fighting meant new displacement for many residents there.
«We fled in the darkness amid heavy strikes,» said Sayeda Abdel-Baki, a mother of three children who was sheltering at her relatives' home in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City. «This is my fifth displacement.»
Residents reported artillery and tank fire in the area, as well as airstrikes. The Gaza Health Ministry, which has limited access to northern Gaza, did not immediately report casualties. The Hamas-run Civil Defense also did not disclose casualty numbers immediately, saying
