Israel ground offensive in Gaza's Shuja’iyya is continuation of 'genocidal war' - Hamas

The Palestinian group, Hamas, on Thursday slammed the Israeli army for its ground offensive in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood east of Gaza City, describing it as the continuation of the “genocidal war” against Palestinians, in which the US administration is a “partner” in the crime, Anadolu Agency reports.

The statement came after the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in Shuja’iyya on Thursday, the third since the war began on 7 October of last year.

The intensive shelling on Shuja’iyya, east of Gaza City, is a continuation of the genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, fully supported and covered by the US administration, a partner in these crimes

Hamas said.

The statement said:

This fascist policy, with repeated targeting of cities, camps and neighbourhoods, deliberately killing civilians and destroying infrastructure to deepen the suffering of our people, constitutes a complete war crime

Earlier on Thursday, the state-run Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the Israeli army has launched a “ground operation” in Shuja’iyya, northern Gaza, claiming to dismantle Hamas infrastructure that is “still operational”.

READ: Israel storms Gaza City neighbourhood and orders Palestinians to go south

“The ground raid was conducted following intelligence gathered by the General Security Service (Shabak) and the Intelligence Division of the Israeli army, indicating that Hamas has begun to regain control of the neighbourhood,” the media outlet claimed.

“This is the third time that the Israeli army has carried out ground operations in Shejaiya, which last left in early January,” it added.

Earlier in the day, Gaza Civil Defence spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, said “Bodies of seven martyrs and dozens of injured were shifted to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.”

“There are many dead people still on the roads and inside homes,” he said, adding that civil defence teams are unable to reach the scene to “retrieve the bodies of martyrs and the injured” due to the intensity of the Israeli bombardment.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: Sick Gaza children leave enclave for treatment