Israel sent tanks deeper into Gaza City on Monday and detonated explosives-laden armored vehicles in one of its suburbs, as Israeli air strikes killed at least 19 people in the enclave, local officials and witnesses said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
The reports come as the chairman of one of the world's leading organizations investigating the crime of genocide said it had adopted a resolution stating that all legal criteria were met to qualify Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide.
There has been no immediate comment from Israel on its offensive in Gaza City and the statement by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Reuters reports. Israel denies its actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
Locals in Gaza City said Israeli forces sent old armored vehicles to the eastern parts of the crowded Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and then detonated them by remote control, destroying several buildings and forcing more Palestinian families to flee the city.
Israel is pressing ahead with its plan to take over Gaza City, aiming to destroy "Hamas" after nearly two years of war, Reuters reported. The Israeli army is urging residents to head south immediately and is continuing its advance westward.