Published By: Kavya Mishra
Last Updated: October 29, 2023, 23:50 IST
An Israeli army M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer fires rounds toward the Gaza Strip from a position in southern Israel across the border (Image: AFP)
Israeli armoured forces and infantry began operating inside Gaza in what Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called “a new phase” of the war on Hamas, triggered by deadly attacks on Israel on October 7
Hamas’s armed wing said Sunday its fighters were engaged in “heavy fighting” with Israeli forces in Gaza after the Israeli military deployed more ground forces across the Palestinian territory.
“Our fighters are currently engaged in heavy fighting with machine guns and anti-tank weapons with the invading occupation (Israeli) forces in northwest Gaza,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
In an earlier statement, the group said two Israeli tanks had caught fire after they were targeted by its fighters, a claim which the army has not confirmed.
Israeli forces continued to pound north Gaza with air and artillery shelling on Sunday evening.
The army said troops had “identified several terrorists exiting the shaft of a tunnel” near the Erez border crossing and “confronted the terrorists, killing and injuring them”.
Earlier on Sunday the army said it had increased the number of troops fighting inside the Gaza Strip as it stepped up its war on Hamas in the tiny coastal territory.
On Friday evening, Israeli armoured forces and infantry began operating inside Gaza in what Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called “a new phase” of the war on Hamas, triggered by deadly attacks on Israel on October 7.
Israeli forces had made several smaller-scale ground incursions inside Gaza before, but the current one has been their longest presence in the territory since the latest violence erupted.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)