Israel claims to have gained control of Hamas stronghold as bombing over Gaza continues

Israel claimed to have gained control of a Hamas stronghold in Gaza on Thursday as the coastal enclave endured some of the most intense bombardment yet of the 76-day-old war.

The Israeli Defense Forces said it had achieved an “operational hold” of the neighbourhood of Sejaiya in eastern Gaza City, facing the Israeli border, considered Hamas’s most significant military bastion before the start of the war.

While bombing was at its most intense over northern Gaza, Israeli planes roared over central and southern areas, dropping bombs that sent up plumes of smoke, residents said.

More than 20,000 residents have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, since October 7th, when Israel launched its attack in response to a raid by Hamas-led gunmen. Israel says 1,200 people were killed in that attack and 240 kidnapped.

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The Israeli military said on Thursday that its troops would continue to hold the Sejaiya neighbourhood and carry out “targeted operations based on operational necessity”. Many of the buildings closest to the Gaza border with Israel have already been razed to the ground.

The conquest of Sejaiya, during which about 800 Hamas gunmen were killed in fierce fighting, according to Israel, means almost the entire northern Gaza Strip is now under Israeli control, with only isolated pockets of resistance remaining.

Israeli troops also advanced to the outskirts of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

[ Israel ambassador: War ‘could be over tomorrow’ if Hamas laid down weapons ]

More than half a million people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – are starving due to “woefully insufficient” quantities of food entering the territory since October 7th, according to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations and aid agencies. “It doesn’t get any worse,’’ said Arif Husain, chief economist for the UN’s World Food Programme. “I have never seen something at the scale that is happening in Gaza.”

The World Health Organisation said northern Gaza had been left without a functional hospital due to a lack of fuel, staff and supplies. Only nine out of 36 health facilities were partially functional in the whole of Gaza, according to the WHO, all of them in the south.

Hopes of securing another humanitarian pause to enable a further release of hostages received a setback on Thursday when Hamas rejected Israeli ceasefire proposals, reportedly based on a temporary truce and the release of some 40 hostages in return for Palestinian militants. More than 100 hostages freed during a one-week pause in the fighting

Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yaha Sinwar, insists on an end to the war, a withdrawal of all Israeli soldiers from Gaza and the lifting of the siege on the coastal enclave before negotiations on further hostage releases can take place.

His hardline position, conveyed to Egyptian mediators, appeared to be at odds with the Hamas political leadership abroad, led by Ismail Haniya, who were conducting negotiations in Cairo.

The militant factions in Gaza announced in a joint statement on Thursday that they support the Hamas position, which they described as a “national position” that represents all the groups in Gaza.

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would not stop fighting in Gaza until Hamas was eliminated and all 129 hostages still in captivity released.

“After we eliminate Hamas, I will work with all my might to ensure that Gaza no longer poses any threat to Israel. Neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” he added.

Despite the ongoing Israeli military onslaught, militants in Gaza are still able to launch rocket attacks against Israel. A heavy barrage on Thursday afternoon sent Israelis in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, once again, fleeing to bomb shelters. Some 30 projectiles were launched; some were intercepted and others fell in open areas.

Thursday also saw one of the most serious exchanges of fire across Israel’s northern border since the start of the Gaza war. Israel hit Hizbullah targets some 20km inside south Lebanon while the Iranian-backed Shia group hit buildings in a number of Israeli border communities.

Due to the escalation, the Upper Galilee council closed the gates of 14 communities and closed roads until further notice. – Additional reporting: Reuters