Israeli tanks enter Gaza City suburbs

On October 30, Sputnik quoted witnesses as saying that tanks of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) advanced to a position about 3km from the Gaza Strip border fence and approached the outskirts of Gaza City.

Israeli tanks appeared at the Salah ad-Din intersection and blocked the intersection. Salah ad-Din is located on the main road connecting the northern and southern residential areas of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli tanks were said to have entered the outskirts of Gaza City but then withdrew on the afternoon of October 30. (Photo: Al Jazeera)

Hamas representative Salama Maarouf informed that Israeli tanks withdrew from the outskirts of Gaza City in the late afternoon of October 30. At the same time, the representative added that the IDF has not made any further progress in controlling Gaza, despite Israeli infantry advancing closer to the city.

Earlier, on October 29, the IDF said it had struck several targets near Al-Azhar University in Gaza City, believed to be a stronghold of Hamas militants.

Israel also released images of battle tanks on the territory's west coast, signaling an effort to encircle Gaza's main city two days after the Israeli government ordered an expansion of its ground offensive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country's military has launched the second phase of its war against Hamas in Gaza, warning people to prepare for a long conflict ahead.

In the latest announcement, the IDF announced that it had attacked about 600 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in the past few days as it continues to expand its ground campaign in this territory.

“The Israel Defense Forces eliminated dozens of gunmen who were holed up in buildings and tunnels and trying to attack soldiers,” the IDF said.

In another development on the same day, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 30 trucks carrying relief supplies entered the Gaza Strip. This is the largest relief convoy to enter the territory since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out.

According to OCHA, 33 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian border. Before the complete blockade by Israel, the Gaza Strip received 500 trucks of relief goods every day.

Tra Khanh (Source: Al Jzeera, Sputnik)

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