Israel begins Gaza ground offensive

The Israeli military began its ground offensive in Gaza City Tuesday, slowly closing in on the Palestinian territory’s largest city, where block after block has already been destroyed in the Israel-Hamas war.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thousands of people streamed out in vehicles laden with their belongings, but hundreds of thousands more remain.

The operation marks yet another escalation in a conflict that has roiled the Middle East for nearly two years and likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach. The military wouldn't offer a timeline for the offensive, which it says aims to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure,” but Israeli media suggested it could take months.

It began the same day that independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel fiercely rejected the allegation, calling the experts’ report “distorted and false.”