Israel‘s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that left 34 Palestinians dead, according to Gazan health authorities.
The assault came as 10 countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada are scheduled to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Monday, in advance of the annual leaders’ gathering at the UN General Assembly.
Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground assault.
Its forces, which control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs, have in recent days been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western parts of the city, where most of the population is sheltering.
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The military estimates it has demolished up to 20 Gaza City tower blocks over the past two weeks and believes some 350,000 people have left Gaza City since the start of September. Another 600,000 or so remain, however.
Included in that tally are some of the Israeli hostages being held by the militant group Hamas.
Hamas’ military wing released an image of the hostages on messaging site Telegram earlier on Saturday, warning that their lives were at risk due to Israel’s military operation in Gaza City.
In almost two years of fighting, Israel’s offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, spread famine, demolished most structures and displaced most of the population, in many cases multiple times.
Israel says the hunger crisis in Gaza has been exaggerated and that Hamas could end the war if it surrendered, freed Israeli hostages, disarmed and disbanded. Hamas says it will not disarm until a Palestinian state is established.
The war began after Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, led attacks in Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. A total of 48 of the hostages remain in Gaza, and around 20 are thought to be alive.
Humanitarian workers in northern Gaza have been repeatedly warned by the Israeli military that only hospitals will be considered protected sites and all other aid infrastructure could be targeted.
In messages and conversations with aid workers in recent days, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an order to “all Gaza residents and inhabitants” to evacuate Gaza City, the biggest urban centre in the territory, applied “to all humanitarian locations [there], except hospitals” and warned that “to defeat Hamas [Israeli troops] will operate ... with great force”.
Dr Rami Mhanna, the managing director of Shifa Hospital, where some of the bodies were brought, said the dead included six people from the same family after a strike hit their home early on Saturday morning. They were relatives of the hospital’s director, Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said five other people were killed in another strike close to Shawa Square.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions about the strikes.
In recent days, Israel has been urging hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City to move south to what it calls a humanitarian zone.
Palestinians have streamed out of the city, some by car, others on foot. Israel opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate. But many Palestinians in the famine-stricken city are unwilling to be uprooted again, too weak to leave or unable to afford the cost of moving.
Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. They are urging for a ceasefire so aid can reach those who need it.
On Friday, Unicef said life-saving therapeutic food meant for thousands of children in Gaza was stolen from four of its trucks. The statement said armed individuals approached the trucks outside their compound in Gaza City and the drivers were held at gunpoint while the food was taken.
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“They were intended to treat malnourished children in Gaza City where famine is declared ... it was a life-saving shipment amid the severe restrictions on aid delivery to Gaza City,” said Ammar Ammar, a spokesman for Unicef.
In a statement on Friday, Israel’s army blamed Hamas for stealing the food. – Agencies
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