Israel begins the ground invasion of southern Gaza – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

This is what Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said when he said on Sunday evening that the invasion had begun.

Chief of General Staff Halevy said that the attack in the south would follow the same pattern as the attack in northern Gaza.

He added that the attack began north of Khan Yunis.

The goal is to expand efforts to every area of ​​Gaza where Hamas is present.

There have been no reports yet about how the matches will go on the ground.

Tormod Heyer, a professor at the Norwegian Defense Academy, says an invasion in the south would be worse for civilians than in the north.

The situation will be worse than it was in northern Gaza. This is partly because residents are more vulnerable to attack because they have already been exposed to nearly two months of bombing. This is partly because Hamas soldiers follow residents who are confined together in a smaller area, Heyer says.

Intense air strikes

After the week-long ceasefire ended on Friday, Israel carried out intense airstrikes for three days, according to reports BBC.

Residents of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip say that the attacks are the most violent they have witnessed during the war that has been going on for nearly two months.

According to Gaza health authorities, more than 500 people have been killed since Israel resumed bombing. Since the war began, more than 15,500 people have been killed in Gaza.

– Major destruction of infrastructure

Head of the Landmakt department at the military school, Sigbjorn Halsen, says it is difficult to say what a ground invasion of southern Gaza will take.

– They say that the invasion should follow the same pattern as that which occurred in the north. Then it will include combined banking units with air strikes. He says very systematic progress is being made from region to region.

Hales believes that Israeli forces will seek to isolate one area after another. As in the north, he says, very significant destruction of infrastructure will follow.

He says this year that Israel is carrying out an operation with three objectives.

The first is to free the hostages. The second is to destroy Hamas militarily. The third is to destroy Hamas’ ability to rule Gaza, that is, its political infrastructure.

Closer to the people in the south

In addition to the large number of people living in the south, southern Gaza is also filled with people who have fled the fighting in the north.

Halsen says it can be assumed that this makes operations more dangerous for civilians.

Israel said residents of the south should go to special areas, but it will be more difficult now that parts of the region have been invaded.

– It is possible that we will also face the same problems around hospitals that we saw in the north, says Halsen.

James Elder of UNICEF describes Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Yunis as a “war zone.”