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Israel says Gaza City now a combat zone after recovering 2 hostage bodies

Israel says Gaza City now a combat zone after recovering 2 hostage bodies


Israel says Gaza City now a combat zone after recovering 2 hostage bodies

Gaza City is now a dangerous combat zone, Israel says, adding that it is in the “initial stages” of a planned offensive.

Israel’s military said it suspended midday pauses to fighting, which had allowed food and aid supplies to enter from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Gaza’s largest city.

It also said it had recovered the bodies of two hostages and vowed its military offensive would return more.

The shift comes weeks after Israel first announced plans to widen its offensive in Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering and enduring famine.

Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, posted on X Friday that the military operation is in its initial phase, but that the Israeli military will “intensify our strikes” and “will not hesitate” until all Israeli hostages are returned and Hamas is dismantled “militarily and politically.”

Adraee said Israel is “not waiting” and is moving ahead with its attack against Hamas which has “transformed from a military organization into a defeated organization waging guerrilla warfare.”