One month into conflict, Israeli troops reach 'heart of Gaza City'

Israeli troops were fighting on Tuesday "in the heart of Gaza City," a senior Israeli commander said, on the 32nd day of the Israel-Hamas conflict that has claimed the lives of 10,328 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In an interview with ABC News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out "tactical little pauses" in the fighting to allow aid to reach Gaza or facilitate the release of some of the around 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas during its October 7 attacks on Israel.

However, Netanyahu rejected any general cease-fire unless all hostages were freed.

After the conflict in Gaza ends, Israel will take "overall security responsibility" in Gaza "for an indefinite period," Netanyahu said.

The ground troops of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have continued to move forward in the northern Gaza Strip, reaching central Gaza City. "For the first time in a decade, the IDF is fighting in the heart of Gaza City," the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command Yaron Finkelman said in a press statement near the Gaza Strip border.

"Our soldiers are eliminating terrorists, discovering tunnels, destroying weapons and continuing to advance into the center of the enemy," he said.

Israelis observed a moment of silence across the country to remember the victims of Hamas' attacks on October 7. Candle-light ceremonies were held in Tel Aviv and other major cities. The surprise Hamas attack that took place one month ago killed about 1,400 people in Israel.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement early in the day that troops had secured a military stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip that belonged to Hamas. Anti-tank missiles and launchers, weapons, and various intelligence materials were found in the compound.

The spokesperson said Israeli forces made an air strike on a building where "a number of" militants had barricaded themselves. The building was located adjacent to the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said in a statement that Israeli forces had shelled areas about 50 meters away from the Al-Quds Hospital, where more than 14,000 displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. The shelling injured at least 60 people and significantly damaged the hospital building and ambulances, the Society said.

The PRCS also warned that fuel reserves at the hospital were expected to run out by Wednesday as Israel had been preventing the entry of fuel into Gaza since October 7.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government said on Tuesday that they would donate 10 million liters of gas to hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

A statement issued by the government said that the donation was "to help alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and to show the solidarity of the Iraqi people with the people of the Gaza Strip."

Confrontations on the Lebanon-Israel borders continued on Tuesday, killing two Hezbollah fighters, and raising the death toll of the Shiite military group to 68.

Lebanese military said that around 20 surface-to-surface missiles were fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel, targeting Israeli positions in Zaoura and Amfit emplacements at the southern end of the Golan.

The military added that Israel fired four patriot missiles in return, which fell in Lebanon's southern villages of Hasbaya and Arqoub. 

Meanwhile, international diplomatic efforts led by Egypt and other parties, the Rafah crossing was intermittently opened to evacuate foreign nationals and transport the wounded from Gaza to Egypt for medical treatment.

Ambulances transported approximately 30 injured individuals to the Rafah crossing, accompanied by teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, as part of new agreements facilitated by Egypt and the United Nations.

The World Food Programme on Monday issued an urgent appeal to expand the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as humanitarian needs have significantly increased, and essential food supplies have reached critically low levels in the besieged enclave.

(With input from agencies)