Israeli troops could be seen clearing ground and building watch towers on Monday in parts of Gaza they have seized in recent days in a renewed offensive that the United Nations says has already captured or depopulated two-thirds of the enclave.
The army has issued repeated evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in southern, central and northern areas since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18th, forcing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.
Zakia Sami (60), a mother of six from Gaza City, said she could see tanks occupying the high ground as she fled her home after the army ordered the family out of the eastern suburb of Shejaia.
“They have taken over the Al-Muntar hilltop where we used to go to play with our kids. Now they are stationed there and they can hit any house they want inside Shejaia,” she told Reuters via a chat app.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA has said the total area seized by Israel or placed under evacuation orders now covers 65 per cent of the Gaza Strip. In Rafah alone, 140,000 people have been displaced over the past two weeks, the International Rescue Committee aid group has reported.
A Palestinian journalist was killed on Monday and nine others were wounded, some critically, when an Israeli air strike hit a tent used by media inside the compound of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
People tried to douse flames in the tent in the early hours of Monday. Images were shared online showing a journalist in flames and another person trying to rescue him.
Dozens of journalists and relatives took part in the funeral of the journalist, Helmy al-Faqawi.
The Israeli military said in a statement it struck Hassan Aslih, whom they described as a “terrorist, who operates under the guise of a journalist” and a member of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Israel’s accusations against Mr Aslih were “false”, adding that he had no political affiliation.
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Mr Aslih, a well-known Palestinian journalist in Gaza, with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media platforms, was critically wounded in the strike, medics said.
Israel announced plans last week to seize a “security zone” around the edges of the Gaza Strip, a month after a ceasefire expired. It has not said what its long-term plan is for the recaptured territory, but Palestinians fear it aims to occupy it permanently.
Residents said there were increasing signs the military was digging in for an extended stay, building watchtowers in Shejaia in the north and around the former Israeli settlement of Morag, between the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
Footage circulating on social media showed a large crane protected by machine guns and security cameras near Morag as well as earth-moving equipment at work near Shejaia.
Overnight the army issued evacuation warnings to several districts in Deir al-Balah and Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, areas that have sheltered hundreds of thousands.
A report issued on Monday by the rights group Breaking the Silence quoted soldiers describing demolishing buildings and farmland to create the buffer zone.
A ceasefire reached in January expired in March. Israel has said that its campaign in Gaza will continue until the remaining 59 hostages – some of whom have died – held by Hamas and other militant groups are returned. Hamas says it will not free them without a deal that would bring a permanent end to the war.
US president Donald Trump has spoken of removing the population of Gaza and turning the territory into a resort controlled by the US. Israel has said it supports that plan and would encourage Palestinians to leave voluntarily.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. – Reuters
