Israel begins new push in central Gaza

Israeli forces began a new push into the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah on Wednesday, including targeted activity at a refugee camp, after receiving new intelligence of militant activity in the area.

The Israeli military moved into Bureij and the eastern part of Deir al-Balah after airstrikes on what it said were military compounds, weapons storage facilities and underground infrastructure, the military said on Telegram.

The military noted it has taken out several fighters already, but fighting is continuing in the central Gaza area.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society accused Israel of targeting several homes in the Al-Ja’frawi area east of Deir al-Balah, killing six and injuring another eight.

Israeli troops are also continuing operations in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians sheltering there were forced to flee after initial military activity began late last month.

The fighting indicates that Israel is continuing to face resistance from Hamas after fighting the Palestinian militant group for nearly eight months and now across the entire Gaza Strip. Several times already, Israeli forces have had to return to hospitals, facilities and sections in northern Gaza that had been previously cleared.

The operations also show Israel remains committed to dismantling Hamas, even with international pressure growing to end the war, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, per local health officials. Israel also sparked widespread outrage after a late May Israeli strike on a refugee camp in Rafah killed at least 45 people, mostly women and children, after a fire broke out.

Israel also controls all of the humanitarian aid crossings into Gaza, including the one in Rafah, and maintain control over Gaza after Israeli forces last month seized the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land between the coastal territory and Egypt.

But Israeli officials say it must continue fighting to defeat Hamas after Palestinian fighters invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,100 people and taking another roughly 250 hostage — with around 130 hostages still in Gaza. It’s not clear how many hostages are left alive, though some estimates have put it around 80.

President Biden last week announced a deal that would see the return of hostages and create a lasting cease-fire as long as negotiations continue, but it’s not clear if both Israel and Hamas will finalize the agreement.