The Israeli occupation army began a wide-scale ground incursion in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday as the Zionist state expanded its military campaign against the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu has reported.
According to Israel’s state broadcaster KAN, the ground offensive involves the army’s 36th Division, in the largest attack since the military resumed its genocidal offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza on 18 March.
Wednesday’s assault was preceded by evacuation orders issued by the army in the past two days for Palestinians from large areas between Rafah and Khan Younis.
Israel began a surprise bombing campaign on Gaza on 18 March and has since killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and injured over 2,000, shattering a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
At least 50,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s genocide since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war in the enclave.
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