Lee, Urban Warfare Officially Declared at Hamas Headquarters... "Pain, Destruction, Anger: The Month of Massacre"

Israeli Forces Tighten Noose on Gaza Heart
"Command Centers and Numerous Tunnels Destroyed"
Netanyahu and Galant Declare "No Ceasefire" in Turn

The Israeli military, which has encircled the Gaza Strip governed by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, has officially launched urban warfare. Israel, declaring Gaza City?the core area of the Gaza Strip?as the worst terrorist base in history, is determined with the message "There will be no ceasefire." As the Israeli military indiscriminately attacks the city as a battlefield, civilian casualties are expected to increase further.

According to major foreign media on the 7th (local time), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV speech that afternoon, "Gaza City is surrounded," and "Our forces are conducting operations inside, intensifying pressure on Hamas every day and every hour." He emphasized, "Thousands of terrorists have been eliminated on the ground and in tunnels, and through ground operations, many Hamas command centers, positions, and tunnels have been destroyed."

On the 7th (local time), a vehicle was left burned after a Hamas airstrike near Netivot in southern Israel. [Image source=Xinhua Yonhap News]

Gaza City is the core area of the Gaza Strip controlled by Palestinians, and the Israeli military began a siege against this area about ten days ago. Since the Israeli government has not disclosed the exact locations of its forces after the ground invasion, the briefing on this day specifying Gaza City and confirming the deployment of infantry forces is interpreted as an official announcement of the start of urban warfare.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said at a live TV press conference just before Netanyahu’s speech, "The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are now in the heart of Gaza City," calling it "the largest terrorist base ever." He explained, "IDF forces have entered the Gaza Strip from the north and south, deploying on foot or riding armored vehicles and tanks alongside engineers." He added, "They are moving toward a single goal: the terrorist groups, infrastructure, commanders, bunkers, and communication centers in Gaza, tightening the noose around Gaza."

Minister Gallant mentioned, "The Israeli ground forces are advancing on the terrorist strongholds in Gaza from all directions in perfect coordination with the air force and navy." Regarding Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza whom the Israeli military is pursuing, Gallant explained, "He is hiding in a bunker and has lost contact with his colleagues."

Regarding the temporary humanitarian ceasefire requested by the international community, including the United States, he said, "My top priority is the hostages held by the beasts," and "There will be no humanitarian ceasefire without the release of the hostages."

Israeli artillery units prepared shells on the 6th (local time) in the southern area adjacent to the Gaza Strip. As the war between Israel and the Palestinian armed faction Hamas continues into its fourth week, the U.S. government recently approved the sale of precision-guided bomb equipment worth approximately 400 billion won to Israel. [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Anti-war sentiment in the international community is intensifying. Volker T?rk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement that day, "The past month has been a time of massacre, suffering, destruction, anger, and despair," repeatedly urging Israel to ceasefire. U.S. President Joe Biden also held a phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu the previous day to discuss a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, but no concrete agreement was reached.

Meanwhile, despite opposition from the international community, Israel has increased the intensity of its attacks on the Gaza Strip and hinted at the possibility of reoccupying the area. In an interview with the U.S. ABC network aired the previous day, Netanyahu was asked about the governance method of the Gaza Strip after the war, and he stated, "I believe Israel will take overall security responsibility," adding, "When we did not have security responsibility, what exploded on us was an unimaginable scale of Hamas terrorism."

This remark is interpreted as meaning that Israel does not recognize the Palestinian Authority and intends to directly govern the Gaza Strip again, raising concerns that it could provoke Arab countries and become a trigger for the escalation of the Middle East war.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.