Gaza City Under Siege as Israeli Ground Operation Expands; Ground Phase of Gideon’s Chariots 2 Begins
The Israeli army announced that the 162nd and 98th divisions have launched a new ground operation called “Gideon Chariots 2” in Gaza City, and in the coming days, the 36th division will join them.
After weeks of airstrikes and limited advances in the western suburbs of Gaza City, the new ground operation has now entered a more serious phase. At the same time as this phase began, the Israeli army launched a new wave of airstrikes on various areas of Gaza to pave the way for a ground invasion.
The Israeli army emphasized that the ultimate goal is to completely surround Gaza City and to destroy the infrastructure of the resistance groups in the area. The operation is being commanded by General Eyal Zamir, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, personally from the southern headquarters of the regime’s army.
Alongside the operation in Gaza City, the IDF’s 99th Division is conducting operations in the northern Gaza Strip, and the IDF’s Gaza Division is also deployed in the southern Gaza Strip.
The simultaneous deployment of several divisions and tens of thousands of new troops into Gaza City indicates the IDF’s efforts to change the field situation. However, a full siege of Gaza City in such a dense urban area with a large population would involve a war of attrition that could lead to heavy casualties. The expansion of the operation and the mobilization of reserve forces on this scale suggest that the current conflict has reached a critical stage.
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