The Israeli army is advancing in the south of Gaza and could flood the tunnel system – the nightly update Houthi rebels are attacking merchant ships again – fears of escalation are growing

The Israeli army continues to advance in the southern Gaza Strip and has fired on targets in the Khan Yunis area, according to a media report. The Times of Israel on Tuesday evening cited Palestinian reports that intensive attacks by Israeli forces were taking place in the largest city in the southern part of the closed-off coastal area. Dozens of Israeli tanks had previously entered southern Gaza and were spotted near Khan Yunis. Eyewitnesses also saw armored personnel carriers and bulldozers, the report said.

Increasing criticism of Israel’s actions

After the Israeli military operation against the Islamist Hamas was expanded to the south of the closed coastal area, criticism of the army’s actions is growing in view of the suffering of the civilian population. Aid organizations speak of “horror” and “unbearable suffering of the civilian population” in the south. No one would feel safe if bombs were falling every 10 minutes, James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s fund Unicef, told the BBC.

According to aid organization Doctors Without Borders, two hospitals in the south can no longer handle the influx of patients. The organization announced on Monday that Al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Hospital were particularly affected. Israel accuses Hamas of launching attacks from residential areas and hospitals and using civilians as human shields.

Report: Israel is able to flood the tunnels

Israel has assembled a system of large pumps that could flood Hamas’ extensive network of tunnels under Hamas’s Gaza Strip with seawater, according to a media report. As the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday (local time), citing US officials, it is not known whether the Israeli government intends to use this tactic. Israel has not yet made a final decision and has not ruled out such a plan, the report said.

With such a tactic, Israel would be able to destroy the tunnels and drive the terrorists out of their underground hideout. On the other hand, it was said that this would endanger the Gaza Strip’s water supply. The Israeli army says it has found more than 800 tunnel shafts since the start of the war. About 500 had already been destroyed, it said on Sunday. Many kilometers of underground tunnel routes were destroyed. The information could not initially be independently verified.

Army spokesperson: No total network failure in Gaza

An Israeli army spokesman, meanwhile, once again denied a total failure of telecommunications services in the coastal strip. Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus told American broadcaster CNN on Tuesday evening that he himself had seen live broadcasts by Palestinian propaganda people on TikTok. The networks may not be perfect, but there are no power outages in Gaza as previously reported by the Palestinian company Paltel, the army spokesman said.

The Israeli military has activated an evacuation map that divides the Gaza Strip into hundreds of small zones to inform civilians about combat zones. However, critics complain that many people do not have electricity or internet access to view the map. Many people don’t know how to deal with it either. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled there from the north of the area on behalf of Israel are crowding south of Gaza.

Nearly 15,900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the coastal area, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. The number of victims cannot currently be independently verified, but the United Nations and other observers note that the authority’s figures have generally proven credible in the past.

Israel has secret information about hostages

Meanwhile, the army spokesman said they had intelligence information on the whereabouts of the hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. Asked if the military had information on where the hostages might be, Conricus replied: “Yes, we do.” He could not provide further information. Israel believes 137 hostages are still being held there.

According to Defense Minister Joav Galant, they include fifteen women and two children.

Hamas says it does not want to continue negotiations over the release of more hostages until the end of the war. Israeli army spokesman Conricus said on Tuesday evening that they wanted to get all the hostages back. If this is not possible through negotiations, other means will be used.

Fighting resumes on Israel’s border with Lebanon

Meanwhile, the Israeli army has attacked Hezbollah militia positions there in response to shelling from Lebanon. As the Israeli military announced Tuesday evening, fighter jets had recently hit missile positions of the Iran-backed Shiite militia. “Terrorist infrastructure and a military site” were also targeted. They were responding to the shelling from Lebanon on targets in Israel the day before. Since the start of the Gaza war, there have been repeated clashes between the Israeli army and militant groups such as Hezbollah in the border area with Lebanon. There have already been deaths on both sides.

What will be important on Tuesday

Israel continues to advance with ground troops in the south of the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas. Aid organizations describe the situation for the civilian population there as pure horror. (sda/dpa)