Israeli army deploys booby-trapped armored vehicles into Gaza City amid heavy bombardment

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

The Israeli army on Tuesday deployed booby-trapped armored vehicles into Gaza City as part of a phased plan to destroy infrastructure and push nearly one million Palestinians into forced displacement, local media said.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said old M113 armored personnel carriers, packed with tons of explosives, were remotely driven into the city to detonate inside residential areas. Powerful explosions were heard overnight and into the morning across central and southern Israel as the vehicles went off in Gaza City.

It added that the planned operation to occupy Gaza City will unfold in stages, accompanied by heavy firepower to support Israeli troops.

“Gaza is burning and the army is striking with an iron fist,” Defense Minister Israel Katz boasted early Tuesday.

Witnesses told Anadolu that Israeli forces also demolished two multi-story residential buildings in the western neighborhoods of Gaza City. The Al-Tawfiq tower in the crowded Al-Nasr district and another building belonging to the Halaweh family in the Shati refugee camp were leveled, displacing dozens of families who had already been living in makeshift shelters.

Residents said more apartment blocks across the city were warned of imminent destruction, sparking panic among civilians.

The escalation came after a night of intense airstrikes, artillery shelling, and the use of booby-trapped robots to destroy homes in northwestern Gaza City. Health authorities reported at least 35 people killed overnight, with many more wounded or missing under the rubble.

Israel launched Operation “Gideon Chariots 2” earlier this month, aiming at the complete occupation of Gaza City. Nearly one million Palestinians, most of them displaced from other parts of the enclave, remain trapped under relentless bombardment.

The Israeli army has killed almost 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and spread of diseases.