The drums of war are pounding on the doorstep of Gaza City. Residents of the largest city in northern Gaza, packed with locals and refugees, fear the hours are ticking down before a looming Israeli offensive.
Dozens gathered on Thursday amid the war-stricken buildings of city for a small but defiant protest, refusing to leave their homes ahead of Israel’s massive assault, with some calling on US President Donald Trump to intervene.
Fearing further displacement and escalating bombardment, men, women and children took to the streets, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs reading, “Stop the genocide” and “Gaza is dying.”
“We send a final call to the entire world: stop the war, no to displacement,” said one Palestinian man into a microphone.
“And we say to the American President Donald Trump. … If you care about the (Nobel) Peace Prize, you must stop all wars in the world, starting with the war on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed thousands of lives of our Palestinian people over the past two years.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Thursday that he would approve a military plan to take control of Gaza City. The prime minister had ordered an initial plan’s timeline to be shortened the day before.
“We are at the stage of decision,” Netanyahu said in a video address. “Today I came to the Gaza Division to approve the plans that the (Israel Defense Forces) presented to me and to the minister of defense for taking control of Gaza City and defeating Hamas.”
Netanyahu added that he has issued instructions to “begin immediate negotiations” to release the remaining hostages in Gaza and “end the war under conditions acceptable to Israel.”
The takeover and occupation of the largest city in northern Gaza, which Netanyahu said is one of the last Hamas strongholds, will require the military to bring in 60,000 more reserve troops and extend the service of another 20,000, in addition to those already called up.
Israeli military vehicles are positioned along the border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday. – Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
The plan has sparked growing condemnation both internationally and domestically over fears that the already spiraling humanitarian and hunger crisis in Gaza will worsen – and that the lives of the remaining hostages will be endangered by an expanded military operation.
Mohammed Hamad, a protester who has already been displaced multiple times, is refusing to leave Gaza City
“If we leave Gaza, we will not return to it again,” he told CNN.
“We tell the world no to displacement. We tell the world that we should not leave the city of Gaza because if we leave, it means the final nail in our existence in Gaza,”
Zakaria Bakr, a displaced Palestinian residing in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, said he believes the forced displacement to come will be “under fire.”
“They will commit massacres, bomb houses over the heads of their owners to send messages of terror and intimidation to force people to leave,” Bakr told CNN, adding that “at the same time, they will besiege the city of Gaza and prevent food from entering.”
Bakr said he was unsure whether he would be alive by the time he tries to leave, saying he is fearful of what is to come.
An Israeli source said the military will give Palestinians approximately two months to evacuate the heavily populated area before the assault begins, setting a deadline of October 7, the two-year mark of the war.
‘The beginning of a new war’
Ahmed Al-Ajla, a 38-year-old lawyer from the Al-Zaitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, said there is nowhere to go should Israel forcefully displace the city’s residents, as tents are already “on top of each other.”
The Israeli military said it had warned medical officials and international aid organizations in northern Gaza to plan for mass evacuation, and previously said it would provide Palestinians with tents before relocating them.
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said on Thursday that Israeli authorities are preparing to forcibly displace around 800,000 Palestinians to the south of the enclave, warning that “likely the whole population of Gaza City would have their access to healthcare disrupted or destroyed entirely.”
Palestinians rush to escape the area after Israeli warplanes’ bomb strike on the tents where displaced Palestinians live in Deir al Balah, Gaza on Thursday. – Anadolu/Getty Images
Many in Gaza said the severity of the bombardment on Gaza City has increased in recent days.
Ismail Zayda, a Palestinian man residing in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, said it feels “like the beginning of a new war.”
Elsewhere, in a small pocket of the city, the soft murmur of prayers echoed through the Holy Family Church on Friday. Worshippers attempted to find a moment of peace – as fierce bombardment thundered overhead – according to the priest.
“Bombing continues to be heard all the time. Some are far away, others closer,” Father Gabriel Romanelli wrote on social media, adding that some of the explosions were just 500 meters from the parish. Photos showed clouds of smoke billowing over the neighborhood.
In July, Gaza’s only Catholic church was struck by Israeli forces, killing at least three people and injuring numerous others – including Romanelli.
“The entire Gaza Strip is dangerous. Even more so, Gaza City,” Romanelli said on Thursday, in a separate social media post. “Shrapnel falls frequently.
“Unfortunately, the war not only continues, but has entered a new and terrible phase,” he added.
‘Belt of fire’
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a displaced people’s camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, wreaked havoc on what had been a haven for many, and where some Gazans displaced from Gaza City were likely to go when Israel’s new assault begins.
Palestinians at the camp said they received phone calls from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate before the camp was struck. They did not know the strike would destroy their entire camp, they told CNN, adding that they now have nowhere to go but out on the streets.
CNN footage showed the massive strike on the camp, with smoke billowing from the scene as people ran from the shrapnel. Civil defense forces arrived to find the makeshift tents on fire, with piles of destroyed belongings buried under the rubble.
A view of the destroyed camp, which houses displaced Palestinians, after Israeli army targeted the camp as Palestinians gather to inspect the site in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on Thursday. – Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
“There is nothing left, not one makeshift (tent) or anything, everything we lived with here is gone, we have nothing more to live in,” Waleed Abu Muased, a resident of the camp, told CNN as he looked on at the destruction.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that “in response to Hamas’ barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities.”
“In stark contrast to Hamas’ intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,” the IDF said.
Two displaced women, Nisrin and Ranin sifted through the ruins for what remained of their belongings.
The Israeli army gave residents 30 minutes to evacuate, Ranin said, after which she saw a “belt of fire” fall onto the camp, annihilating it.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeated his call for a ceasefire on Thursday, saying it would “avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause.”
CNN’s Abeer Salman contributed reporting.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
