By Aaron Boxerman

Copyright

Israel began its long-planned ground assault on Gaza City on Tuesday, after months of preparations that intensified in recent weeks.

In the coming days, additional troops are expected to gradually advance into the city, an Israeli military official said in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, adding that at least 2,000 Hamas militants remained there.

The official, who briefed journalists on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, estimated that around 40 percent of the city’s residents had already fled the fighting. But hundreds of thousands of Gazans are still sheltering in the city.

The Israeli government signed off on a plan to take over Gaza City in August. At the time, Israeli forces were operating in the outskirts of Gaza City, and ordered the remaining residents to leave.

By the end of August, much of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood had been razed to the ground. Since then, Israeli military strikes have destroyed multiple high-rise buildings in the city that the military said Hamas was using for surveillance and other activities. The group denied the accusations.

Satellite images from Monday showed hundreds of tents remained in central Gaza City near to where recent strikes have destroyed high-rise buildings.