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The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally gave the order for his forces encircling the city to move in, with troops mobilised in the dead of night.<\/p>\n
Major General Yaron Finkelman confirmed that for the first time in decades \u201cthe IDF is fighting in the heart of Gaza City\u201d.<\/p>\n
And Israeli military claimed it had already surrounded one known Hamas leader and killed the head of the terror group\u2019s intelligence and weapons department Mohsen Abu Zina.<\/p>\n
The latter was blown up by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in a precision airstrike.<\/p>\n
Abu Zina was central to Hamas\u2019 weapon development – specialising in the production of strategic ammunition and rockets for militants to wield in their campaign of terror.<\/p>\n
Overnight, the IDF said the terror chief was \u2018eliminated\u2019 after one of its fighter jets blasted a known Hamas\u2019 production headquarters.<\/p>\n
Dramatic footage footage shows the warehouse being struck from the sky – sending flames and huge plumes of smoke into the air.<\/p>\n
An Israeli military spokesman said: \u201cIDF fighters continue to operate deep in the Gaza Strip, eliminating terrorists and directing aircraft to attack terrorist infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn IDF fighter jet, guided by the intelligence of the Shin Bet and Amman, destroyed the Abu Zina warehouse, which served as the head of the Industries and Weapons Department at the Hamas production headquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Images showed a huge number of Hamas weapons which were seized by Israeli troops.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s Defence minister Yoav Gallant claimed that the nation\u2019s forces had also swiftly isolated Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza City.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Family of girl, 8, kidnapped by Hamas ‘plead for humanity’<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cGaza is the biggest terror base built by man,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole of Gaza is a terrorism base.\u201d<\/p>\n He claimed Sinwar was now surrounded, but was hiding in a bunker, \u201cout of touch with his surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n Military experts warned that the battle for Gaza City could prove to be a long and painful urban conflict, with the loss of many lives expected on both sides.<\/p>\n Israel has repeatedly warned all Palestinians to leave their homes in the city and move south.<\/p>\n But it is not known how many of those remaining are members of Hamas.<\/p>\n And for those civilians still in the city, conditions are horrific.<\/p>\n At Gaza City\u2019s main Al Shifa hospital, Um Haitham Hejela was sheltering with her young children in an improvised tent.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cThe situation is getting worse day after day.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no food, no water. When my son goes to pick up water, he queues for three or four hours in the line. They struck bakeries, we don\u2019t have bread.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the war continued yesterday with the G7 group of nations – including the UK and US – calling for \u201chumanitarian pauses\u201d in the fighting in Gaza.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/5056450.jpg?r=1699477930909\")
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