Israel widens ground offensive; thousands break into Gaza aid warehouses

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military said Sunday it had struck more than 450 terrorist targets over the previous day, including Hamas command centers and anti-tank missile launching positions. It said more ground forces were sent into Gaza overnight, and circulated footage showing tanks and troops operating in open areas.

Nearly three dozen trucks entered Gaza on Sunday in the largest aid convoy since the war began, but it wasn’t enough to meet Palestinian needs after thousands of people broke into aid warehouses in Gaza to take flour and basic hygiene products, a U.N. agency said Sunday.

Thirty-three trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered the only border crossing from Egypt, a spokesperson at the Rafah crossing, Wael Abo Omar, told The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, tanks and infantry pushed deeper into Gaza over the weekend as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in the war ignited by Hamas’ barbaric Oct. 7 incursion into Israel. Israel also continued pounding the territory from air, land and sea. Communications were restored to much of Gaza early Sunday after being knocked out during previous waves of counterattacks.

The warehouse break-ins were “a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza,” said Thomas White, Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. “People are scared, frustrated and desperate.”

Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the agency, said the crowds broke into four facilities on Saturday. She said the warehouses did not contain any fuel, which has been in critically short supply since Israel cut off all shipments after the start of the war.

One warehouse held 80 tons of food, the U.N. World Food Program said. It emphasized that at least 40 of its trucks need to cross into Gaza daily just to meet growing food needs.

Elad Goren, the head of civil affairs of COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said Israel had established a “humanitarian zone” near the southern city of Khan Younis and recommended that Palestinians flee there.

But he provided no details on the exact location of the zone or how much aid would be available. He also said Israel has opened two water lines in southern Gaza within the past week. The AP could not independently verify that either line was functioning.

The escalation has meanwhile ratcheted up domestic pressure on Israel’s government to secure the release of some 230 hostages, when Hamas fighters from Gaza breached Israel’s defenses and stormed into nearby towns, gunning down civilians and soldiers in a surprise attack that killed more than 1,400 people.

Desperate family members met with Netanyahu on Saturday and expressed support for an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Hamas says it is ready to release all hostages if Israel releases all of the thousands of Palestinians held in its prisons. Israel has dismissed the offer.

Despite the Israeli offensive, Palestinian terrorists have continued firing rockets into Israel, with the constant sirens in southern Israel a reminder of the threat.

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza rose Saturday to just over 8,000 people since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, an arm of Hamas. The White House has been skeptical of the death total.

An estimated 1,800 people remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to the Health Ministry, which has said it bases its estimates on distress calls it received.

Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the terrorists operate among civilians, using them as human shields.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. AP writers Julia Frankel and Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.