The Israeli occupation army launched a full-scale ground offensive on Monday to storm Gaza City, the largest and most densely populated urban center of the besieged Gaza Strip, further escalating the ongoing genocide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last month ordered the capture of Gaza City, has framed the assault as part of his campaign to “eliminate Hamas.” But for over 23 months, Israeli forces have laid siege to Gaza, flattening entire neighborhoods, destroying infrastructure, and deliberately creating conditions of mass starvation.

The humanitarian toll is catastrophic. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that more than 64,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — have been killed since Israel’s assault began, with tens of thousands more wounded and thousands still missing under the rubble. International monitors have confirmed famine conditions in parts of northern Gaza, with children dying from hunger and dehydration as aid remains blocked.

Israeli forces have operated on the outskirts of Gaza City for weeks, bombing relentlessly before pushing ground forces closer to the center, where over one million Palestinians had been sheltering.

“Gaza is burning,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz boasted in a social media post, praising the destruction. He claimed that the offensive was aimed at “defeating Hamas” and freeing hostages, even as civilian casualties mount by the hour.

The latest invasion comes after a series of war crimes, including Israeli strikes on refugee camps, schools, and aid distribution points. Just last week, an Israeli airstrike massacred civilians waiting for food south of Wadi Gaza — an attack widely condemned as a deliberate targeting of starving people.

Israel now controls about 75% of Gaza’s territory, leaving the population with nowhere safe to flee. Entire families have been annihilated, and survivors are trapped amid rubble, without electricity, clean water, or functioning hospitals.

Palestinian leaders and human rights organizations are calling on the international community to intervene immediately, halt Israeli attacks, lift the siege, and hold Tel Aviv accountable before more lives are lost. (ILKHA)