The Israeli army announced on Sunday evening that its forces had surrounded Gaza City and separated the northern Gaza Strip from its south.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the 36th Armored Division reached the shore of Gaza City and surrounded it.

Hagari added that the Israeli army was able to divide the Strip into “north Gaza and south Gaza,” indicating that Israeli forces will deepen their ground operations there.

In the words of the Israeli spokesman, “Gaza City has now completely surrendered,” and this was considered a “decisive step.”

Hagari claimed that the 36th Division was able to kill 300 Palestinian militants and bombed 50 targets within 12 hours with the support of artillery and air forces, saying that the bombing included military sites and underground facilities.

The same spokesman said that civilians still have to flee to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli spokesman's statements come as Gaza is being subjected to unprecedented bombing, amid a communications outage once again.

Despite the Israeli forces' incursion and arrival at the coastal Al-Rashid Street west of Gaza City, Israeli officials acknowledge that the ground battles are difficult, which was expressed by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy by saying that his forces are facing a harsh enemy.

Within less than a week, the Israeli army acknowledged the killing of 30 of its soldiers in the Gaza battles, but the Palestinian resistance confirmed that the death toll was much higher, and the occupation threatened to turn the Gaza Strip into a cemetery for its soldiers.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies