Before Netanyahu’s US visit, Israel expands military operations

Israel’s military announced on July 1st that it has intensified its operations in Gaza, days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to Washington on July 7th, Middle East Eye via AFP reported.

This escalation comes amid growing international calls for a ceasefire and a month after Hamas issued a ceasefire proposal to Israel. Hamas stated that it had not received any response from either Israel or the United States regarding their offer.

In response to reports of deadly strikes in both northern and southern Gaza, the Israeli army told AFP it is “operating to dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities.”

Additionally, on the morning of July 1st, the military said it had recently “expanded operations to additional areas within the Gaza Strip, eliminating dozens of militants and destroying hundreds of terror infrastructure sites, both above and below ground.”

Raafat Halles, 39, from Gaza City’s Shujaiya district, described an increase in “air strikes and shelling over the past week” alongside advancing tanks.

He added: “Every time negotiations or a possible ceasefire are mentioned, the army escalates its attacks and massacres on the ground. I don’t understand why.”

Amer Daloul, 44, also from Gaza City, reported heavier fighting between Israeli forces and militants in recent days. He told AFP that he and his family were forced to flee the tent they had been living in at dawn on July 1st due to intense and indiscriminate gunfire and shelling.

In Rafah, resident Mohammed Abdel Aal, 41, said that tanks are present in most parts of the town.

Middle East Eye via AFP, Maghrebi.org