As fighting rages in Gaza, Israel issues warnings on another front

Street-to-street combat raged in what Israel described as three Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip on Monday, as top Israeli officials warned that increased attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah, from Lebanon, could prompt a powerful response.

Fighting in “fierce and difficult battles,” the Israeli military said Monday that the number of its soldiers killed in the ground invasion of Gaza had surpassed 100 — a fraction of the death toll among Palestinian civilians and Hamas fighters, but a measure of the intensity of the urban warfare.

At the same time, in a sign that the smoldering tensions inflamed across the Middle East by the war in Gaza could be heating up, Israeli leaders hinted at escalating a conflict on another front, with Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran.

Increasing Hezbollah strikes on northern Israel “demand of Israel to remove such a threat,” Benny Gantz, a member of the war Cabinet and former defense minister, told Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call, according to a statement by Gantz’s office.

The chief of staff of Israel’s military, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said on a visit to the northern border with Lebanon on Sunday that Hezbollah risked pushing his forces to make a “very clear change” in the confrontation. Neither he nor Gantz elaborated on what additional steps Israel might take, but Halevi said that on both frontiers, Israel needs a return of “both safety and a sense of security.”

A third Iranian-backed militia, the Houthis, threatened over the weekend to step up attacks on ships bound for Israel that are transiting the Red Sea. The French navy said Sunday that one of its frigates there had shot down two drones launched from Yemen, where the Houthis are based.

In Gaza, the Israeli military said it had taken control of the area surrounding the former headquarters of Hamas in Gaza City, and released images showing soldiers firing barrages of gunfire as they moved tensely through nearly deserted, rubble-filled streets.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli military, told reporters that it was focused on fighting in three areas that are Hamas strongholds: Jabalia and Shajaiye, two neighborhoods in northern Gaza, and in Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza.