Israel said Tuesday that its ground forces were battling Hamas fighters deep inside Gaza's largest city, signaling a major new stage in the month-old conflict, and its leaders foresee controlling the enclave's security after the war.
The push into Gaza City guarantees that the already staggering death toll will rise further, while comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about controlling Gaza's security for "an indefinite period" pointed to the uncertain endgame of a war that Israel says will be long and difficult.
Israeli ground troops have battled Palestinian militants inside Gaza for over a week, cutting the territory in half and encircling Gaza City. The army's chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said that Israeli ground forces "are located right now in a ground operation in the depths of Gaza City and putting great pressure on Hamas."
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad, speaking on Tuesday from Beirut, denied that Israeli forces were making any significant military gains or that they had advanced deep into Gaza City.
"They never give the people the truth," Hamad said. He added that numerous Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday and "many tanks were destroyed."
"The Palestinians fight and fight and fight against Israel, until we end the occupation," said Hamad, who left Gaza days before Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, which sparked the war.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims of either side.
Israelis commemorated the 30th day -- a milestone in Jewish mourning -- since the Hamas incursion, which killed 1,400 people. About 240 people Hamas abducted during the attack remain in Gaza, and more than 250,000 Israelis have evacuated homes near the borders of Gaza and Lebanon amid continuous rockets fired into Israel.
A month of relentless bombardment in Gaza has killed more than 10,300 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-run territory. More than 2,300 are believed buried from strikes that reduced entire city blocks to rubble.
Around 70 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and many of them are crowded into U.N. schools-turned-shelters. Civilians in Gaza are relying on a trickle of aid and their own daily foraging for food and water from supplies that have dwindled after weeks of siege.
Israel unleashed another wave of strikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as hundreds more Palestinians fled Gaza City to the south.
Some arrived on donkey carts, most on foot, some pushing elderly relatives in wheelchairs, all visibly exhausted. Many had nothing but the clothes on their backs. "There is no food or drink, people are fighting in the bakeries," said one man who didn't want to give his name.
Hundreds of thousands have heeded Israeli orders to head to the southern part of Gaza, out of the ground assault's path. Others are afraid to do so since Israeli troops control part of the north-south route. Bombardment of the south has also continued.
An Israeli airstrike destroyed several homes early Tuesday in Khan Younis. An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw first responders pulling five bodies -- including three dead children -- from the rubble. One man wept as he carried a bloodied young girl, until a rescue worker pried her from his arms, saying, "Let her go, let her go," to rush her to an ambulance.
AP video at a nearby hospital showed a woman desperately searching for her son, then crying and kissing him when she found him, half-naked and bloodied, but apparently without serious injuries. A girl sobbed next to a baby on a stretcher, apparently dead.
"We were sleeping, babies, children, elderly," said one survivor, Ahmad al-Najjar, who is the general director at the Education Ministry in Gaza.
In the town of Deir al-Balah, rescue workers brought out at least four dead and a number of wounded children from the wreckage of a flattened building, witnesses said. "My daughter," screamed a woman as she ran behind them.
Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and accuses the group of endangering civilians by operating among them.
At a school in Khan Younis, thousands of displaced were living in classrooms and the playground. One of them, Suhaila al-Najjar, said the last month had been filled with sleepless nights.
"What's to come? How will we live? Bakeries have closed, there's no gas. What will we eat?" she said.
Israel has vowed to remove Hamas from power and crush its military capabilities -- but neither Israel nor its main ally, the United States, has said what would come next.
Netanyahu told ABC News that Gaza should be governed by "those who don't want to continue the way of Hamas," without elaborating.
"I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we've seen what happens when we don't have it. When we don't have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn't imagine," he said.
Netanyahu did not make clear what shape that security control would take. The White House on Tuesday reiterated that President Joe Biden does not support an Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip after the war.
"We do think that there needs to be a healthy set of conversations about what post-conflict Gaza looks like and what governance looks like," said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, adding that he would leave it to Netanyahu to clarify what he means by "indefinite."
Israeli officials say the offensive against Hamas will last for some time and acknowledge that they have not yet formulated a concrete plan for what comes after the war. The defense minister has said Israel does not seek a long-term reoccupation of Gaza but predicted a lengthy phase of low-intensity fighting against "pockets of resistance." Other officials have spoken about establishing a buffer zone that would keep Palestinians away from the Israeli border.
"There are a number of options being discussed for The Day After Hamas," said Ophir Falk, a senior adviser to Netanyahu. "The common denominator of all the plans is that 1) there is no Hamas 2) that Gaza is demilitarized 3) Gaza is deradicalized."
Israel withdrew troops and settlers in 2005 but kept control over Gaza's airspace, coastline, population registry and border crossings, excepting one into Egypt. Hamas seized power from forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, confining his Palestinian Authority to parts of the occupied West Bank. Since then, Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Gaza to varying degrees.
In his ABC interview, Netanyahu also expressed openness for the first time to "little pauses" in the fighting to facilitate delivery of aid to Gaza or the release of hostages. But he ruled out any general cease-fire without the release of all the hostages.
For now, Israel's troops are focused on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, which before the war was home to about 650,000 people. Israel says Hamas has extensive militant infrastructure within residential areas, including a vast tunnel network.
The military says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters. The Gaza Health Ministry's death toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants -- and slain fighters not brought to hospitals would not be in its count. Israel also says 30 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began.
Several hundred thousand people are believed to remain in the north in the assault's path.
Residents in northern Gaza reported heavy battles overnight into Tuesday morning on the outskirts of Gaza City. The Shati refugee camp -- a built-up district housing refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation and their descendants -- has been heavily bombarded over the past two days, residents said.
The war has also stoked wider tensions, with Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group trading fire along the border. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war began, mainly during violent protests and gunbattles with Israeli forces during arrest raids.
Hundreds of trucks carrying aid have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt since Oct. 21. But humanitarian workers say the aid is far short of mounting needs. Egypt's Rafah Crossing has also opened to allow hundreds of foreign passport holders and medical patients to leave Gaza.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Amy Teibel in Jerusalem and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.
A judge will decide Monday whether new evidence warrants a re-examination of the convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez in the shotgun murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills home more than 30 years ago.
A mammoth rape trial in France moved into a new phase Monday as prosecutors began to lay out the verdicts and punishments they want for dozens of men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband.
An intoxicated woman in Elliot Lake has been charged with breaking into her neighbour's apartment and choking their dog.
The discovery of a severed horse head, and a cow quartered with its bloodied dead calf on top, have rattled a Sicilian town, with authorities treating the incident as a mafia threat.
The Utah Hockey Club got the full Toronto experience Sunday night ahead of their first-ever matchup against the Maple Leafs—bumper-to-bumper traffic that forced the team to walk to the game.
At least 17 people are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough seas, Egyptian officials said Monday.
Second Cup Café has taken back two of its franchise locations in Montreal following allegations of hateful remarks and gestures made by the franchisee in a video that was widely circulated online during a pro-Palestinian protest.
A Winnipeg Police Service officer is recovering after he was stabbed in the throat Sunday evening.
Russia's military captured a British national fighting with Ukrainian troops who have occupied part of Russia's Kursk region, according to reports Monday, as Moscow began daylight drone attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine and its ground forces accelerated gains along parts of the front line.
A Winnipeg Police Service officer is recovering after he was stabbed in the throat Sunday evening.
An intoxicated woman in Elliot Lake has been charged with breaking into her neighbour's apartment and choking their dog.
Second Cup Café has taken back two of its franchise locations in Montreal following allegations of hateful remarks and gestures made by the franchisee in a video that was widely circulated online during a pro-Palestinian protest.
The family of a soldier who fought during the Second World War has been reunited with letters written to him 80 years ago.
A family in Riverview, N.B., is making plans for Christmas and the future after escaping a fire in their home on Nov. 14.
A B.C. man has been awarded nearly $800,000 in damages as compensation for injuries he sustained from a defective bear banger, according to a recent court decision.
Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan have defied a lockdown, tear gas and widespread arrests to head to the capital on Monday to demand his release.
The United Arab Emirates said Monday police arrested three Uzbek nationals for the killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, an attack that's raised concerns for the burgeoning Israeli community in the country.
Foreign ministers from the world's leading industrialized nations met Monday as signs emerged of progress on a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and a certain pressure to advance diplomatic efforts in both the Mideast and Ukraine wars ahead of the new U.S. administration taking office.
The discovery of a severed horse head, and a cow quartered with its bloodied dead calf on top, have rattled a Sicilian town, with authorities treating the incident as a mafia threat.
At least 17 people are missing after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough seas, Egyptian officials said Monday.
A mammoth rape trial in France moved into a new phase Monday as prosecutors began to lay out the verdicts and punishments they want for dozens of men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband.
Montreal's police chief says he expects more arrests stemming from a Friday anti-NATO protest that turned violent, with smashed windows and burned cars in downtown Montreal.
The chair of the United States House intelligence committee says Canada needs to accelerate its defence spending targets, especially with its military in 'desperate' need of investment.
Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien is calling the federal government's proposed GST holiday and $250 rebate cheques a 'targeted approach' to address affordability concerns.
A disease often thought to only affect 18th century sailors is reemerging in Canada.
Ontario failed to meet its own legislated target this past year for the average number of hands-on hours of care that long-term care residents receive, a newly updated document shows.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has announced an expanded recall on carrots over risks of E. coli O121 contamination, according to a notice issued Friday.
Canadian neurosurgeons in partnership with Elon Musk's Neuralink have regulatory approval to recruit six patients with paralysis willing to have a thousand electrode contacts in their brains.
An advocate for major social media platforms told an Australian Senate committee Monday that laws to ban children younger than 16 from the sites should be delayed until next year at least instead of being rushed through the Parliament this week.
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Barbara Taylor Bradford, a British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga 'A Woman of Substance' and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies, has died. She was 91.
It's been more than 40 years since coal was king in the scenic Crowsnest Pass of southwestern Alberta, but a referendum vote Monday could sway a contentious debate on bringing it back.
Swiss watchmaker Swatch has won a suit against the Malaysian government after a court ordered the return of 172 Swatch watches seized last year due to designs that authorities said bore 2SLGBT+ elements.
Canada Post says it has seen a shortage of more than eight million parcels amid an ongoing strike that has effectively shut down the postal system for nine days compared with the same period in 2023.
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The Australian government introduced what it's called 'world-leading' legislation in parliament this week to wipe social media accounts – including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and X – from the devices of children under 16.
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The Utah Hockey Club got the full Toronto experience Sunday night ahead of their first-ever matchup against the Maple Leafs—bumper-to-bumper traffic that forced the team to walk to the game.
Sidney Crosby became the 21sth player to score 600 NHL goals during the second period of the Pittsburgh Penguins' 6-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night.
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Nearly 46,000 electric vehicles from Kia, Hyundai and Genesis are being recalled in Canada over a potential power loss issue that can increase the risk of a crash.
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Canadian drivers are regularly in a hurry to get to their destination and a majority are willing to take unnecessary risks on the road, according to the results of a new survey.
The family of a soldier who fought during the Second World War has been reunited with letters written to him 80 years ago.
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A suspect in a deadly daylight shooting in St. Catharines was arrested over the weekend following an hours-long standoff, police say.
Ontario failed to meet its own legislated target this past year for the average number of hands-on hours of care that long-term care residents receive, a newly updated document shows.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek will be giving a post-budget address on Monday. Her remarks will be the keynote speech at a luncheon hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
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Two more parcels of land, which are expected to host two new residential towers, have been bought by a developer, the City of Calgary said Monday.
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Ottawa with freezing rain expected to move into the area starting tonight.
OC Transpo says nearly 1,900 fines were issued to riders who didn't pay their fares on Ottawa buses and trains this fall.
A large cargo ship remains stuck in the St. Lawrence River after running aground on Saturday afternoon.
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Second Cup Café has taken back two of its franchise locations in Montreal following allegations of hateful remarks and gestures made by the franchisee in a video that was widely circulated online during a pro-Palestinian protest.
One man is in hospital after shots were fired inside an apartment building in Montreal’s Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.
Heavy snow pushed through central and eastern Alberta over the weekend.
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A London, Ont., judge is set to hear legal arguments today in the sexual assault case of five members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team.
A family in Riverview, N.B., is making plans for Christmas and the future after escaping a fire in their home on Nov. 14.
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The beginning of the commercial lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia has been delayed due to weather.
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A Saturday evening vigil brought together community members to honour the victims of the Holodomor and reflect on 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
An auto repair shop based in Kitchener held a special fundraiser Saturday to help children and youth with physical disabilities, with former Maple Leafs captain Wendel Clark in attendance.
A Kitchener, Ont. emergency room doctor has officially earned his second Guinness World Records title.
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Saskatchewan's legislature is set to resume Monday for a short two-week sitting, with Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party planning to get to work on addressing affordability issues after a challenging election campaign.
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An intoxicated woman in Elliot Lake has been charged with breaking into her neighbour's apartment and choking their dog.
Environment Canada has issued a winter weather advisory for areas in and around Greater Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins.
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The London Fire Department was on scene of a house fire in the city on Sunday.
Police have busted and charged two people in connection to a daytime theft at a legion in Gravenhurst.
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Snow routes were declared active in Lethbridge, the city posted on its website. Starting at 9 a.m. Monday, parking restrictions will be in effect for streets declared to be snow routes.
The Hurricanes dropped their third straight game on Friday night, losing 6-3 to the Winterhawks in Portland.
An intoxicated woman in Elliot Lake has been charged with breaking into her neighbour's apartment and choking their dog.
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An international group led by a Canadian is in Rome this week to push the Catholic Church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on abuse by clergy.
A company hoping to build a multi-billion-dollar wind-to-hydrogen project in western Newfoundland is eyeing other options as Canada's plans to supply Europe with green energy have not yet materialized.
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