(Bloomberg) -- Israel said its troops are engaged in “fierce battles” with Hamas militants deep in the Gaza Strip as soldiers push further into the enclave and expand the ground operations that began late last week.
Israel Defense Forces said they also attacked a Hamas outpost in the Gaza Strip, according to a post on social media platform X.
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The Interior Ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, said Israeli forces have reached the outskirts of Gaza City from the northwest. It said the troops are about six kilometers deep from its northern fence with Israel, the deepest incursion since 2006.
It was not immediately possible to verify the details.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli military spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said the military was expanding its activities in Gaza and that troops were in various parts of northern sector. He said troops are “looking for Hamas and engaging with their combatants.”
While airstrikes continue all over the strip, “we will focus our activities on the northern part of Gaza,” Conricus said. “That is the center of gravity of Hamas.”
The push into Gaza comes a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for a cease-fire, saying that would only allow Hamas to regroup and restock on weapons. The Health Ministry in Gaza says some 8,500 people have been killed.
Israel said at the weekend it had started the second phase of its operation against Hamas, a group designated by the US and EU as a terrorist organization. Israel began an intense aerial campaign against Gaza in retaliation of the militant group's incursion into southern Israel on Oct.7 that killed 1,400 people.
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