Israeli tanks and warplanes pounded Gaza City Thursday, sparking what a top UN official called “new waves of displacement”, as the military intensified its assault on Hamas militants in the territory’s largest urban hub.
AFP journalists and witnesses saw a steady stream of Gazans heading south on foot, in vehicles and on donkey carts — their meagre belongings piled high.
“There is artillery fire, air strikes, quadcopter and drone gunfire. The bombing never stops,” said Aya Ahmed, 32, sheltering with 13 relatives in Gaza City.
“The world doesn’t understand what is happening. They (Israel) want us to evacuate south — but where will we live? There are no tents, no transport, no money.”
Palestinians say the cost of a ride to the south has soared, in some cases topping $1,000.
The offensive has sparked outrage among the international community, with the territory already devastated by nearly two years of war and the Gaza City area gripped by a UN-declared famine.
– ‘Unfit for human dignity’ –
“The military incursion and evacuation orders in northern Gaza are driving new waves of displacement, forcing traumatised families into an ever-shrinking area unfit for human dignity,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“Hospitals, already overwhelmed, are on the brink of collapse as escalating violence blocks access and prevents WHO from delivering lifesaving supplies,” he warned.
Hospitals in Gaza reported that three children were among at least 12 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza City overnight.
Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli fire had killed at least 64 people on Wednesday, including 41 in Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it continued to target “Hamas terror infrastructure” and also operated in the southern areas of Rafah and Khan Yunis.
Media restrictions in the territory and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence or the Israeli military.
On Tuesday, Israel launched its US-backed ground offensive on Gaza City, pledging to destroy Hamas in the area.
The offensive came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials had incited the crime.
Israel rejected the findings and slammed it as “distorted and false”.
Navi Pillay, who headed the investigation, told AFP that she hoped Israeli leaders would one day be jailed.
“I see similarities” to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, she said, pointing to “the same kind of methods”.
Spain said it will probe “human rights violations in Gaza” to assist the International Criminal Court, which has sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials over alleged war crimes.
– ‘We don’t want to die’ –
On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced “a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street”, as AFP images showed fresh bombardments.
Its Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours.
The United Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people were living in Gaza City and its surroundings. Israel says 350,000 of of them have fled.
“Enough, we want to be free. We want to live, we don’t want to die,” said Gaza City resident Mohammed al-Danf. “Who told you we want to die? Tell Netanyahu: we don’t want to die!”.
The families of hostages taken by Palestinian militants in their October 2023 attack protested the Gaza City offensive in front of Netanyahu’s house in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
“My boy is dying over there. Instead of bringing him back, you have done the exact opposite — you have done everything to prevent his return,” Ofir Braslavski, whose son Rom is held captive in Gaza, said addressing the prime minister.
Of the 251 people taken hostage by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
The attack also resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,141 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
bur-jd/kir
