Israeli forces expand to central part of Gaza territory

Israel’s military chief says its war with Hamas will likely go on for “many more months,” echoing similar comments from within the Netanyahu administration last week. This, as Israeli forces move into the central part of the Gaza territory.

A member of Israel’s war cabinet met with senior U.S. officials on Monday about how forces intend to transition and solely focus on high Hamas targets.

In turn, thousands of Palestinian families are fleeing primarily in that direction, away from the brunt of Israel’s expanding ground offensive into Gaza’s few remaining, overcrowded refugees.

After weeks of bombardment in the major urban centres, U.N. officials have described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis”. The Hamas-run health ministry says the death toll continues to rise well above the reported 20,000 deaths in Gaza and several hundred thousand people have been driven out from the northern part of the region.

Humanitarian aid in Gaza remains extremely limited and Israel says it’s calling on the international community to find additional solutions to help check aid trucks and speed up distribution to people in Gaza.