Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured front-line units in Gaza on Tuesday as the Israel Defense Forces opened a broadened ground push in Gaza City, calling on troops to “intensify the blows” and break Hamas’s Gaza City brigade.

Zamir, who met commanders during 98th Division operations, framed the mission as both strategic and moral: return all hostages and dismantle Hamas’s military and governing capacity. “The threat has changed—and so have we,” he told officers, describing the current maneuver as pivotal for the war’s continuation.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the city is now under sustained pressure, writing that “Gaza is burning” as forces hit terror infrastructure “with an iron fist” to create the conditions for hostage releases and Hamas’s defeat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed an “intense operation” was underway, calling this a critical stage of the campaign.

In an English-language briefing, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said ground, air, and intelligence elements are striking “coordinated and precise” targets in Gaza City—the hub of Hamas’s command and governance. He accused the group of turning the city into a vast human shield, with tunnels linking command posts, launchers, and depots beneath civilian areas.

Defrin reiterated evacuation calls for civilians to move south to designated humanitarian zones with access to food, water, medical care, and shelter, and said Hamas has tried to block departures to preserve its fighters. Hostage recovery, he stressed, remains “at the forefront” of the operation.

The IDF said the current “large-scale ground maneuver” involves regular and reserve forces from the 98th, 162nd, and 36th divisions. Over the past 24 hours, 98th Division troops advanced with air and naval fires, striking dozens of military sites, observation posts, and booby-trapped structures intended to target Israeli units.

Concurrently, Gaza Division troops are operating in the security belt opposite western Negev communities, while conducting offensive actions in Rafah and Khan Younis. The 99th Division continues missions in northern Gaza. The IDF described the city offensive as a wide, intensified continuation of gains made in “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” aimed at locking in war objectives.

The Air Force struck more than 850 targets in Gaza City over the last week and hit hundreds of gunmen to degrade Hamas defenses ahead of the ground advance, the military said.

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