Gaza Strip cut into two, says Israel amid 'significant strikes'

The Israeli Army said on Sunday that "significant strikes" are being carried out and the Gaza Strip has been "cut into two", Al Jazeera reported.

Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli forces "have encircled Gaza City" and "now there exists a south Gaza and a north Gaza".

"Troops reached the coastline and are holding it", he added.

"There are now widespread strikes on terror infrastructure - below ground and above it," Al Jazeera quoted Hagari as saying.

In another statement, Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, during a meeting in the Northern Command, said that the IDF is ready to strike in the northern Gaza at "any moment".

"We have a clear goal of restoring a significantly better security situation at the borders, not only in the Gaza Strip...We are ready to strike in the north at any moment," IDF posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel will not agree to a ceasefire until the Hamas terror group releases the hostages it is holding.

"Take this (word 'ceasefire') out of the lexicon. We will continue until we defeat them; we do not have an alternative," Netanyahu is quoted saying in a statement from his office.

Meanwhile, Israeli envoy to the US, Michael Herzog called Gaza as the world's "biggest terror complex".

He said that Gaza is "the biggest terror complex in the world," with tens of thousands of fighters and rockets, among other weaponry -- and 310 miles (500 kilometres) of underground tunnels.

"This is what we're up against. And we have to uproot it, because if we do not, they will strike again and again," Times of Israel quoted Herzog as saying at CBS's "Face the Nation" interview. (ANI)

According to statements made by Hamas figures, it appears the IDF is encircling a triangle area of three hospitals where Hamas maintains its headquarters, the Shifa, Al-Quds and Indonesian Hospitals.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel also presented evidence that Hamas uses the Qatari-funded Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hospital for its activities.

This included visual proof of a terror tunnel entrance that was exposed by Israeli soldiers, and a video of Hamas fighters firing on Israeli troops from the medical facility.

Hagari also showed footage of Hamas rocket launching pads located 75 meters away from the Indonesian Hospital, which was built in 2016 on top of already-existing underground terror facilities.

Hamas's main headquarters is located under the massive Shifa Hospital complex in the northern Gaza Strip.

As reported by the Tazpit Press Service, Hamas makes extensive use of Shifa Hospital.

Knowing that Israel would not dare attack a hospital during a war, Hamas leaders hide there, launch rockets from its compound, hide hostages in the bowels of the building, torture collaborators, and dig tunnels connecting Shifa to nearby sites.

On Friday, Israel released a recording of a phone call confirming that Hamas also stores at least a half-million liters of fuel underneath Shifa.

"Hamas is hiding behind hospitals, sickly behind hospitals to hide its war machine," Hagari said.

"We will not accept Hamas's cynical use of hospitals to hide their terror infrastructure. It must come to an end. It is a war crime."