Israel has launched an offensive against the Palestinian city of Gaza in order to establish control over it, the Axios portal reported, citing a source in the Israeli leadership.
According to him, the “ground offensive“ of the Israeli forces “to occupy Gaza“ began on September 15. As Axios emphasizes, the administration of US President Donald Trump “will not interfere with Israel and will allow it to make its own decisions regarding the conflict“.
Sources of the portal noted that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Prime Minister of the Jewish state Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington “supports the ground operation, but expects it to be carried out quickly and completed as soon as possible“.
Israel launched 37 strikes on Gaza City in 20 minutes, including from helicopters, the Ynet portal reported.
According to the media, the Israeli army used drones and helicopters, and also opened artillery fire. The city's residents are being evacuated en masse from the attacked areas, the publication said.
On September 8, Netanyahu said that the Israeli army would soon launch a large-scale offensive against the Palestinian city of Gaza, in connection with which local residents must immediately leave it. Earlier, Israel announced a large-scale offensive operation in the Palestinian enclave with the aim of establishing full control over Gaza City and completely defeating the Hamas radicals there. The army's offensive plans were approved by Netanyahu in late August.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a series of strikes on the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, wounding at least 12 people, according to a statement published by the country's Health Ministry.
„The airstrike was aimed at the Ksar Zaatar area, where several houses were damaged. Twelve civilians, including women and children, were injured,“ the report said. “These are preliminary figures; the number of casualties could increase after the rescue operation.“
Earlier, the Lebanon 24 news portal reported that the Israeli air force had attacked suspected military targets of the Shiite organization Hezbollah in Nabatiya, which is located 75 km south of Beirut. According to the Israeli command, the headquarters of the Shiite formations was destroyed during the strike.
US President Donald Trump said that Israel would no longer strike Qatar.
“Netanyahu will not strike Qatar“, the American leader said during a conversation with journalists at the White House.
Trump also denied information from the Axios portal that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had informed him of the Jewish state's plans to strike the residence of the leadership of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Doha. “No, he did not do that“, Trump said.
On September 9, Israel struck members of the leadership of the Palestinian Hamas movement, who were in Doha at the time. The Palestinian movement reported the deaths of six people, including the son of one of the organization's leaders in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayy, and a Qatari security official. Reports of the deaths of senior Hamas members have not yet been confirmed.