Israel launched a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City Tuesday, declaring “Gaza is burning,” even as a UN Commission of Inquiry accused it of committing genocide and several Western countries turned against Tel Aviv’s campaign.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official confirmed that ground troops were pushing deeper into the enclave’s main city, with more soldiers to be deployed in the coming days to confront an estimated 3,000 Hamas fighters still inside.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X, “Gaza is burning,” adding that the IDF was striking “with an iron fist” at Hamas’ infrastructure while soldiers were fighting “bravely to create conditions for the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”

The offensive came despite European threats of sanctions and warnings from some of Israel’s own commanders that the operation could prove disastrous.

US President Donald Trump voiced support for Israel, warning Hamas that it would have “hell to pay” if it used hostages as human shields. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump had invited him to the White House in two weeks following their addresses to the UN General Assembly.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the situation in Gaza as “horrendous,” calling the war morally, politically, and legally intolerable. Israel dismissed the genocide report as “scandalous” and “fake.”

Palestinian health officials reported that an Israeli strike hit a vehicle carrying displaced people fleeing south, raising Tuesday’s death toll to at least 75, mostly in Gaza City.

According to the IDF, around 40% of Gaza City’s residents have left. Hamas said 350,000 people fled the eastern parts of the city to central and western shelters, while 175,000 moved further south.

Once reduced to ruins in 2023, Gaza City had seen nearly a million Palestinians return to shattered homes. The new displacement now forces most of Gaza’s population into overcrowded coastal camps, short of food, medicine, and shelter.

Despite IDF assurances that “there will not be a situation of starvation in Gaza,” local authorities said three more people died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 428. Israel claims hunger figures are exaggerated.

The war began after Hamas’ October 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 hostages taken. In retaliation, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.