Fighting resumes in Gaza as Hamas reconstitutes itself

The US secretary of state has warned that Israel's victories over Hamas may not be “sustainable”.

Close ground fighting between Hamas fighters and Israeli troops raged in parts of northern Gaza over the weekend, both sides said Sunday, even as the world's attention was largely focused on the southern city of Rafah. where Israel intensified its military operations last week.

It has become a familiar scenario in the Gaza Strip during the seven-month war: after battles rows, Israel declares a zone clear of Hamas, only to return after the militants reconstitute their forces.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is said to be concerned that Israel's failure to abandon a model of governing Gaza meant that its victories might not be "sustainable" and would be followed by "chaos, anarchy and ultimately Hamas again." /p>

Mr. . Blinken's warning came as the Israeli military said its soldiers had "eliminated a number" of fighters in Gaza's Zeitoun neighborhood. In the nearby town of Jabaliya, where civilians were ordered to evacuate on Saturday, troops moved in overnight after warplanes struck more than two dozen targets, the military said. The operation, he said, was "based on intelligence information regarding Hamas' attempts to regroup."

Hamas said on Sunday that its fighters were engaged in “fierce clashes” with Israeli soldiers near Jabaliya and that the fighters had fired large-caliber mortar shells at Israeli forces in Zeitoun.

We are having difficulty retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we check access. If you are in Reader mode, please exit and sign in to your Times account, or subscribe to the entire Times.

Thank you for your patience while we let's check access.

Already subscribed?