Israel launched a large ground offensive in the city of Gaza, forcing thousands more to escape

Israel has launched its long -planned main offensive in Gaza, conducting heavy air strikes overnight as the troops collided at the ends of the city.

Thousands of Palestinians were forced to escape a single coastal road to the center of the strip, joining hundreds of thousands who had already fled.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a “powerful operation” has been launched against Hamas’s last big fortress against the backdrop of sharp criticism from the United Kingdom and other countries.

The offensive is coming as the UN Investigated Committee found that this Israel performed a genocide in gasS

Huge columns of Palestinians were seen flowing south in donkeys, rickshaws, vehicles tied high with things, and on foot.

Large parts of Gaza have already been destroyed in the first stages of the war in 2023, although about a million Palestinians have returned to their homes since then – often among ruins and bombarded buildings.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) estimate that 350,000 people have already fled, although more than half a million remain in the city. All were asked to escape south to the “humanitarian zone” in the coastal part of the strip.

Many Palestinians say they cannot afford to go south while others say that southern and central gas are not safe, as Israel has also made air strikes there. Some say they tried to go south, but they did not find a place to put their tents, so they came back.

Lina al-Magreby, 32-year-old, the mother of three of the Sheikh Radvan city district, told the BBC: “I was forced to sell my jewelry to cross the expenses for displacement and tent.”

“It took us ten hours to get to Khan Enisis, and we paid 3,500 shekels (£ 735) for the ride. The line of cars and trucks looked endless.”

33-year-old Amjad al Navati told the BBC that the “separation” noise from the ear “of the bombing at night was scared by his brother with disabilities Ahmed.

“He continued to put his hand on his ears … And he was shaking with fear. I had to calm him down and tell him that we were leaving soon. It was one of the oldest nights in his life.”

The Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza says 59 people were killed and at least 386 were injured in the last 24 hours. Three people, added, died as a result of hunger and malnutrition, including one child.

“Gaza is burning,” writes the X -Israel Israel Kat, writes to X when the offensive began. “IDF strikes with an iron fist in the terrorist infrastructure and IDF soldiers are fighting boldly to create conditions for the release of hostages and defeat Hamas.”

An IDF employee said he believed that up to 3,000 Hamas fighters remained in the city.

The operation made a widespread international condemnation, with the UN chief for human rights Volker Turk describing it as “completely and completely unacceptable”.

In another reaction:

• The United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Yvet Cooper, called the offensive “extremely reckless and terrifying”, saying that “it will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians and threatens other hostages”

• Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the attack was a new phase in Israel’s “genocidal plans” and warned that it would cause mass displacement

• German Foreign Minister Johan Vadeful said it was “the completely wrong way” and called for diplomacy.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio seems to offer tacit support for Israel’s operation during a joint press conference with Netanyahu on Monday, saying that the United States is preferring a contractual end of the war, but “sometimes when you deal with a group of savages like Hamas, this is not possible.”

The UN Investigation Commission said its last report It was “the strongest and authoritative finding of the UN so far” in the war. However, this does not officially talk about the UN.

Among his discoveries are that Israeli security forces commit “sexual and gender violence” directly to children with the intention of killing and committing them “systematic and widespread attacks” of religious, cultural and educational sites in Gaza.

Navi Pillay, the chairman of the group, who presented the report, said: “The Genocide Convention was born of the most darkened heads of humanity.”

“Today, we are witnessing real -time how the promise of never has been disturbed and tested in the eyes of the world again,” she added.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it categorically rejected the report, denying it as “distorted and incorrect”.

Israel began its Gaza war in response to the Hamas attack on South Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64 964 people were killed by Israel during his campaign since then – almost half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

As the hunger has already been declared in the area by a UN-backed body, the UN warms up the increase in the offensive will push the civilians into the “even deeper crash”.

Additional reporting from Rushdi Abualouf and Ethar Shalaby