With Trump’s green light, Netanyahu launches full-scale ground assault on Gaza

Over the past weeks, the Zionist regime has escalated its brutal attacks on Gaza City, and last night carried out a bloody massacre against defenseless civilians there. This morning, U.S. media reported the start of the ground offensive by the occupying army on Gaza City.

According to Axios, citing Israeli officials, the Israeli army began its ground offensive to occupy Gaza City, carrying out heavy overnight attacks on the city in northern Gaza.

Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, also reported that Israeli warplanes launched continuous, unrelenting strikes on Gaza City, accompanied by artillery shelling and drone attacks.

Earlier, the occupying army had announced a wide-scale campaign against Gaza City that would gradually intensify with the aim of depopulating and destroying the city. These attacks have included relentless bombardment and evacuation orders delivered online, through leaflets dropped by drones, or by phone calls.

According to American sources, the ground offensive began just hours after a meeting at the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his delegation.

At the meeting, Rubio stated that the hostages (Israeli captives) must be returned from Gaza and that Hamas must cease to exist as an armed group. He emphasized that this was the position of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu, in turn, described Rubio’s visit to the occupied territories as a clear sign of U.S. support for Israel, telling Rubio: Your presence here today also sends a message to the weak governments pressuring us.

The U.S. Secretary of State also said that Israel must destroy Hamas: I would have been pleased if Hamas had surrendered, but matters rarely proceed that way with “extremists.”

Without mentioning Israel’s ongoing obstruction and deception, or the recent attack on Hamas’ political office in Doha, Rubio added that everyone would have preferred a negotiated agreement in which Hamas disarmed and released the Israeli captives. But we must all be prepared for the possibility that such an outcome will not occur.

According to Axios, Israeli officials said Rubio told Netanyahu that the Trump administration supports the ground offensive on Gaza City but wants it carried out swiftly and concluded as quickly as possible.

An Israeli senior official told Axios that Rubio placed no restrictions on the Israeli army’s ground operation. A U.S. official likewise said the Trump administration will not restrain Israel, giving it freedom to make its own decisions on the Gaza war, since “this is not Trump’s war—it is Netanyahu’s—and what happens next depends on him.”

Axios further reported that as Israeli tanks entered Gaza City, Trump warned Hamas not to harm the Israeli hostages. He issued these threats based on claims from Israel’s Attorney General’s office that Hamas had moved the captives out of tunnels to use them as human shields against the ground assault.

These threats, alongside Israeli and American deception, and the Trump administration’s shift in position—after previously claiming to seek a ceasefire and hostage exchange—come despite the fact that Hamas had been seriously reviewing Washington’s new proposal. But Israel’s attack on Hamas’ office in Doha showed that the occupiers are not seeking any agreement and, under U.S. cover, continue to pursue deception.

Accordingly, the Americans—and Trump personally—who have provided full backing to Israel and Netanyahu for continuing the genocidal war in Gaza, are still trying to blame Hamas for the continuation of this brutal conflict.

Bloody night in Gaza

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources reported a wave of intense Israeli attacks on Gaza City.

At dawn today, warplanes, helicopters, and artillery of the occupying army struck multiple areas of Gaza, including Al-Zahra School; homes in Al-Daraj neighborhood; north of Al-Nuseirat camp; Sheikh Radwan in the center; Al-Shati camp in the west; Tel Al-Hawa in the south; Al-Souq Street in Deir al-Balah; Al-Sabra in the Maghrebi area of southern Gaza; Al-Shawa al-Daraj Square; homes in the Al-Amn area in northern Gaza; Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza; and several other locations, unleashing indiscriminate fire as part of its genocidal campaign.

Two children were pulled from the rubble of a home in Al-Shawa Square, while another 30 remained trapped beneath the debris as local rescue teams struggled to recover them.

At least four people were killed in the bombing of Al-Khudriya neighborhood in southern Gaza City.

The bodies of eight martyrs—including two children—were recovered from the rubble of homes in the Al-Amn area in northern Gaza, while 40 others remain missing beneath the ruins.