Palestinians flee as Israeli troops, warplanes strike north Gaza
GAZA STRIP
Israel's military said it was conducting raids backed by air strikes in northern Gaza on June 28, killing "dozens" of militants in an area where it had declared the command structure of Hamas dismantled months ago.
The operation in Shujaiya, on the edge of Gaza City, caused numerous casualties, witnesses and medics said.
Renewed fighting in Gaza's north followed comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said the "intense phase" of the war was winding down after almost nine months.
Experts said they foresee a potentially prolonged next phase.
On June 28, in the Shujaiya area an AFP correspondent witnessed an air strike and saw smoke rising. Artillery fire boomed.
In a statement, Israel's military said that troops "started to conduct targeted raids" in the Shujaiya area as part of an operation that began earlier in the day.
Intelligence had indicated "the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the area of Shujaiya", the military said, in its first details of the operation.
As troops went in, warplanes struck dozens of Hamas targets, it said, following other "significant" strikes that killed "dozens" of militants in the north.
A military spokesman told residents and displaced Gazans, in a social media message, to leave "for your safety.”
They were asked to head south, to a declared "humanitarian zone" about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away.
An AFP photographer saw many Palestinians leaving on foot, carrying their belongings through rubble-strewn streets.
Hamas said Israeli forces were "starting a ground incursion,” reporting "several" dead as "thousands flee under relentless bombing.”
[HH] ‘US intel expects Hezbollah war in weeks’
Fighting in Gaza comes alongside growing fears of a wider regional conflagration involving Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began.
Such exchanges have escalated this month.
The exchange of fire came as American intelligence expected a major escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in the coming weeks in the absence of a ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Politico reported.
An unnamed senior U.S. official told the outlet that the risk of war is higher than it has been for weeks. The officials said that a major attack by either side, which could spark a war, could happen with “little notice.”
Amid travel warnings from Washington and several European countries, two senior officials who spoke to Politico said the start date of a war was unclear, but that Israel was acquiring arms and building up forces quickly.