Israeli Army Announces War Tank Deployments in Gaza
Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, 22 March 2025. Israeli forces resumed airstrikes on Gaza on 18 March, ending a ceasefire that had been in place since 19 January. Photo: EFE/EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
March 23, 2025 Hour: 5:21 pm
The Israeli army announced in a statement this Sunday that the 36th Division, made up of four armored brigades, has begun “preparations for operations” in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is bombing again after the ceasefire broke down on March 18.
RELATED:
Over 591 Palestinians Killed in 72 Hours as Israel Resumes Offensive in Gaza, Hamas Reports
According to the military statement, in recent months this division has completed operations in Lebanon, where Israel began a ground invasion in October 2024, and in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights in the northern area.
A video released by the army shows dozens of tanks from a bird’s eye view parked in an arid terrain.
This announcement comes on the same day that Israeli tanks have surrounded the Tel al Sultan neighborhood, in the southern area of Rafah, where they have urged thousands of Palestinians to immediately move towards Al Mawasi as it is “a dangerous combat zone.”
The army confirmed this afternoon in another statement that “in recent hours, troops operated and concluded the encirclement of Tel al Sultan,” killed alleged militants and expanded the buffer zone near the dividing line with Egypt.
This Sunday, Israeli tanks also took control of the hill of Abu Ataya in Rafah and fired heavily while dozens of people sought refuge, several witnesses report.
For its part, the Hamas movement condemned in a statement the attacks on Tel al Sultan, the Saudi neighbourhood of Gaza and other areas of Rafah and said that “the siege of more than 50,000 civilians and the attacks against medical facilities and personnel constitute a war crime”.
The Palestine Red Crescent emergency teams reported that Israeli forces had blocked several of their ambulances in Rafah and that several of their paramedics had been injured and lost contact with them during the siege.
Israeli airstrikes in several areas of the Gaza Strip have killed 46 Palestinians since Sunday. Among the victims is a child, the result of a drone attack in the area of Al-Rayyan, near Rafah. In addition, an Israeli airstrike on a displaced tent north-west of Khan Yunis resulted in two deaths and several injuries.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE // Al Mayadeen