Israeli military vehicles approach the border with the Gaza Strip on December 3 (Photo: AFP).
Witnesses told AFP on December 4 that they saw tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers near the city of Khan Yunis, a major Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Amin Abu Hawli, 59, said Israeli vehicles had advanced 2km into the village of al-Qarara. Moaz Mohammed, 34, said Israeli tanks were moving along the Salah al-Din road, the main north-south highway in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army is trying to cut off the road between Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Yunis, Mr Mohammed said. They are “opening fire, tank fire on cars and people trying to pass through here”.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari affirmed on December 3 that the country's army "continues to expand its ground campaign against Hamas' main fronts in the Gaza Strip."
"Wherever there are Hamas strongholds, the IDF will operate there," he added.
Full-scale fighting resumed on December 1 after a ceasefire brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt collapsed after a week.
Air strikes have since increased in southern Gaza, said James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF.
“Despite previous assurances, the attacks in southern Gaza are as brutal as those in the north,” he posted on social media platform X on December 4. “Somehow the situation is getting worse for children and mothers.”
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