Israel’s Military Says Gaza City Encircled, Rejects Ceasefire Calls

Israel’s Military has announced that its Forces have surrounded Gaza’s main city while rejecting growing international calls for a ceasefire to halt bloodshed in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israeli Military Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that Gaza City has been encircled nearly a week after its Forces expanded ground operations in the Hamas-governed enclave.

Hagari said a “ceasefire is not currently on the table at all”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week said the war against Hamas had entered the “second stage” amid an escalating ground war, said on Thursday night that Israeli Forces were at the “height of the battle”.

Hamas’s Military wing, the Qassam Brigades, warned in response that Gaza would be the “curse of history for Israel” and that Israeli soldiers entering the enclave would go home “in black bags”.

On Thursday, seven UN special rapporteurs issued a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, expressing their concern that Palestinians face a “grave risk of genocide”.

Israel’s assault on Gaza has come under growing condemnation since its forces earlier this week carried out successive air raids on the Jabalia refugee camp in Northern Gaza.

At least 195 people were killed and hundreds of others wounded in the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Officials in the Hamas-governed enclave.

At least 9,061 Palestinians have been killed in the bombardment of Gaza, which Israeli forces launched in response to Hamas’s October 7.

ALJAZEERA