Israeli tanks grow in the large residential area of ​​the city of Gaza

Local residents and witnesses said dozens of Israeli tanks and military vehicles have passed through a large residential district of Gaza City, the second day of the Israel’s ground offensive aimed at occupying the region.

Video sequences show tanks, bulldozers and armored vehicles moving on the banks of Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza City. Thick clouds of smoke can be considered as fire artillery shells and smoke bombs from Israeli forces to cover their advance.

The Sheikh Radwan district housed tens of thousands of people before the war and is considered one of the city’s most densely populated areas.

Israel says that the objective of its Gaza City offensive is to release the hostages held by Hamas and defeat up to 3,000 combatants in what it describes as the group’s last bastion – but the operation has carried out a general condemnation.

Managers of more than 20 major aid agencies, including Save The Children and Oxfam, warned that “the inhumanity of the situation in Gaza is inadmissible”.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan said that Wednesday’s foray had followed a wave of heavy air strikes targeting buildings and main streets in the neighborhood, in what seemed to be preparing for the ground.

Saad Hamada, a local resident who fled to the south with his family earlier Wednesday, told the BBC: “The drones did not leave anything. They hit solar panels, electricity generators, water tanks, even the Internet network.

“Life has become impossible, and that’s what forced most people to leave despite the danger.”

Sheikh Radwan includes the areas of Abu Iskandar, Al-Tawam and Al-Saftawi, and is crossed by Al-Jalaa Street, a vital artery connecting the central city of Gaza to its northern districts.

Residents say that Israeli control of the neighborhood could open the way to forces to move deeper in the city and reach its central areas.

Images of the tanks in the streets of Gaza City caused a widespread panic among residents, especially those who still live in the western and central parts of the city.

Witnesses said that the sight of tanks approaching their homes has revived memories of previous incursions, which ended in flattened entire neighborhoods.

The foray into Sheikh Radwan sparked another wave of travel, with thousands of families fleeing south.

Long lines of cars and carts loaded with personal effects have been visible on the roads, while the Israeli army opened a route to the south via the Salahedin road. The residents said that trips took hours and cost hundreds of shekels due to the shortage of transport and priced.

Before the war, Sheikh Radwan was one of the busiest districts of Gaza City, which houses dozens of schools, mosques and markets.

It had already been struck several times by air raids in recent months, and there is a general destruction, but the view of tanks inside the area now marks a new important phase in the countryside of Israel.

Israeli defense forces (FRI) announced on Wednesday morning that it had reached more than 150 targets in the city of Gaza in two days to support its troops on the ground.

As part of its operations, the FDI would also be using old military vehicles loaded with explosives that have been modified to be controlled remotely. They are taken to Hamas positions and have exploded, according to Israeli media.

The resident Nidal Al-Sherbi said to the BBC’s daily East Arabic Middle East Arabic program: “Last night was extremely difficult, with explosions and continuous bombing that lasted night at dawn.”

“Israeli vehicles have advanced by Sheikh Radwan, Tal al-Hawa, and also of Shejaiya. It was a very, very frightening night.”

Help groups, United Nations and others agencies say that the “humanitarian zone” should move is strongly overcrowded and insufficient to support the two million Palestinians who are supposed to pile up.

Some who followed the military orders to evacuate towards the area say that they have found no space to present their tents, so they returned to the north.

“Every day leaflets are thrown on us, ordering an evacuation, while the Israeli army obliges buildings in all directions,” said Azzam, which is in the north of Gaza, at the BBC. “But where can we go? We have no refuge in the south.”

The FDI said on Tuesday that around 350,000 people had fled Gaza City, while the UN has put the figure at 190,000 since August. Estimates suggest at least 650,000 remains.

Israel launched his war in Gaza in response to the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 65,062 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, almost half of women and children, according to the Ministry of Health managed by Gaza.

He said on Wednesday that 98 people had been killed and 385 injured by Israeli fires in the past 24 hours. Four other people died from malnutrition, taking the total number of deaths related to malnutrition since an unpospened organization declared famine in the city of Gaza at the end of August at 154, he added.

The UN warned that an intensification of the offensive will push civilians to “an even deeper disaster”.

On Tuesday, a United Nations a commission of inquiry said that Israel had committed a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel rejected the report and denounced it as “distorted and false”.