IDF forces Palestinians south as ground operation intensifies in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel (NewsNation) — The Israel-Hamas war is pushing deeper into Gaza as Israeli troops advance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ground operation is going as planned.

“The war against Hamas-ISIS is progressing in full force and has one goal: to win. There is no substitute for winning. We will eliminate Hamas and we will return our abductees,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli Defense Forces agreed to pauses throughout the day to allow people to escape northern Gaza. Some have left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

“I have been walking for three hours now,” said Kamal Nsew, a Beit Hanoun resident. “I am carrying my house (all my belongings) on my back now. We are displaced, distressed. I don’t know where my people are and (I) don’t know what is coming for us.”

With large parts of the Gaza Strip in ruins, Hamas claims over 11,000 have died.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed America stands with Israel while calling for innocent Palestinian lives to be protected with the war now reaching the doorstep of al-Shifa Hospital in downtown Gaza City.

“Much more needs to be done in terms of both protecting civilians (in Gaza) and getting humanitarian assistance to them,” Blinken said.

As power has been knocked out, staffers at the hospital said newborn babies’ lives are dependent on sunlight.

“The systems in this section are powered by solar panels. However, there isn’t always sunlight. These babies will die if we don’t get fuel,” said Dr. Fadia Malhis, a Turkish obstetrician at al-Shifa Hospital.

Medicine, food and water have been driven in on trucks this week, fuel remaining a non-starter to the IDF. However, the IDF says Hamas has denied these needed materials.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high around the region. To the north, there are daily attacks from Hezbollah and retaliatory strikes from the IDF in Lebanon.

To the south, the Houthis in Yemen have taken responsibility for strikes on southeast Israel as well as downing a U.S. drone.

In terms of what the future looks like, Netanyahu said the Israelis will work to ensure Hamas will never threaten them again.

“Gaza will be demilitarized and there will no longer be a threat from the Gaza Strip to the state of Israel, and in order to ensure there will be no such threat, as long as needed, the IDF will continue to control security in the Gaza Strip to prevent terror from it,” Netanyahu said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.