The “most intense day” of Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza saw its troops enter three Hamas strongholds on Tuesday, as fears mounted for the 1.8mn people forced to flee their homes in the strip.
“We are in the most intense day since the beginning of the ground operation,” said Yaron Finkelman, commander of the Israeli military’s Southern Command, “in terms of terrorists killed, the number of firefights, and the use of firepower from the land and air”.
As Israel’s ground offensive moved to its most southerly point so far, Finkelman said Israeli soldiers had reached Khan Younis in the south of the strip and entered the Jabaliya neighbourhood in the north and Shuja’iyya to the east of Gaza City — all seen as bastions for the Palestinian militant group Hamas that controls the enclave.