Israel said Friday that Gaza's largest city was now a dangerous combat zone as it began the “initial stages” of its assault on the famine-gripped area, and that its military had recovered the remains of two hostages from the territory.
"We are not waiting," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. "We have begun the preliminary operations and initial stages of the attack on Gaza City, and we are currently operating with great intensity on the outskirts of the city."
The assault is expected to displace thousands from the city, drawing global condemnation and concern that it will deepen the humanitarian crisis in the already devastated Palestinian enclave.
Israel has called Gaza City a Hamas stronghold in the past.
It conducted heavy strikes and bombings in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods east and south of Gaza City on Friday morning as tanks advanced in areas on the outskirts of the city.
"We will deepen our strikes and will not hesitate until we return all the abductees and Hamas is dismantled militarily and governmentally," the IDF statement added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that Israel had recovered the body of hostage Ilan Weiss from the Gaza Strip.
It said that the remains of another hostage, whose identity had not yet been cleared for publication, were also recovered. Those remains were undergoing forensic identification, he said.
Weiss, 55, who was believed to be missing since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, was long believed to have been dead.
He was murdered and abducted from his home in kibbutz Be’eri, the IDF said in a statement Friday. His wife, Shiri Weiss, and daughter Noga Weiss were also abducted and later returned as part of a hostage release agreement in November 2023, it added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has organized large-scale protests demanding a ceasefire to return the hostages, mourned the two losses and called on the Israeli government to "enter negotiations and stay at the table until every last hostage comes home."
"Time is running out for the people of Israel who carry this burden,” it said in a statement.
'Toward catastrophe'
Israel's military had earlier suspended midday pauses to fighting in Gaza City which had allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid, saying the city was now a "dangerous combat zone."
Netanyahu last week authorized the operation to take over the city, despite warnings from aid groups and global officials.
UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said Friday that intensifying operations in Gaza City would put “around 1 million people at risk of being forcible displaced again.”
“With famine already confirmed in the area, any further escalation would deepen suffering and push more people toward catastrophe,” it posted on X.
But Israel has pressed on and given no sign it will agree to a ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it endorsed in recent weeks.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to open the "gates of hell" on Gaza City until Hamas agreed to Israel's conditions for ending the war, including the release of all hostages and the militant group's complete disarmament.
Israel had already faced international outrage this week after striking Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, killing 22 people, including five journalists.
The IDF claimed Hamas had positioned a camera on the roof, without providing evidence, and did not address why the facility was struck multiple times.
An NBC News analysis found that at least four Israeli munitions were fired at the medical complex.
Israel called up some 60,000 reservists for the expanded operation.
