Israel steps up Gaza City bombardment, kills 16 Palestinians in enclave and wounds dozens

Families are fleeing their homes in territory’s largest urban centre, say residents

Palestinian families flee their homes in the Jabalia al-Balad and Abu Iskandar areas north of Gaza City after the Israeli army warning. Photograph: Saher Alghorra/The New York Times
Palestinian families flee their homes in the Jabalia al-Balad and Abu Iskandar areas north of Gaza City after the Israeli army warning. Photograph: Saher Alghorra/The New York Times

Israeli forces killed at least 16 Palestinians across Gaza on Thursday and wounded dozens in the south of the enclave, local medics said, as residents reported that Gaza City suburbs were under intensifying bombardment.

Israel is stepping up plans to attack Gaza City, with thousands of military reservists due to be drafted next week to take part in the operation.

The preparations are being made despite international calls on Israel to desist over fears a ground offensive on Gaza’s largest urban centre would cause significant casualties and displace the roughly one million Palestinians sheltering there.

Soldiers are already operating in Gaza City neighbourhoods and on the outskirts. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is targeting militant positions before the main attack. Gaza City residents said families were fleeing their homes, with most heading towards the coast.

The Hamas-run health ministry said Thursday’s deaths brought to 71 the number of people were killed across Gaza in the previous 24 hours in IDF attacks. It said 22 of those who died were waiting for aid. The ministry also reported that four people died of malnutrition in the previous 24 hours.

The IDF has ordered residents of Gaza City to head south before the start of the military assault, saying the attack was inevitable.

An IDF spokesperson listed nine zones in the vicinity of the refugee camps in central Gaza and in the Muwasi area further south for residents to relocate to.

The IDF also said two new humanitarian aid and food distribution centres would be constructed in southern Gaza in the coming days to help cope with the expected flood of war refugees when more than 800,000 residents will be forced to leave their homes.

But the head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) warned that Gaza was “at breaking point” and appealed for the urgent revival of the agency’s network of 200 food distribution points.

“Enough is enough,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain said after visiting the enclave. “Gaza is at a breaking point and I saw it first hand.”

Israel has not formally responded to the ceasefire proposal drawn up by international mediators, which was accepted by Hamas earlier this month.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators issued a statement on Thursday blaming Israel for the deadlock in efforts to end the 22-month war.

The conflict began on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

Israel’s military offensive against Hamas has since killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, the Gaza health ministry has said.

Israeli aircraft attacked Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Thursday, targeting Houthi leaders for the first time, after the Shia organisation carried out dozens of missile strikes against Israel as an act of solidarity with Gaza.

It was not immediately clear how many Houthi leaders had been hit.

Israeli commandos also carried out an airborne landing on a strategic hilltop southwest of Damascus, Syria, overnight on Wednesday and conducted a two-hour operation before leaving the area.

The troops reportedly dismantled Turkish surveillance equipment used against Israel, an Israeli source told the Saudi news outlet al-Hadath.

Before the raid Israeli aircraft bombed the site, killing at least seven Syrian soldiers. – Additional reporting by Reuters

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Mark Weiss

Mark Weiss

Mark Weiss is a contributor to The Irish Times based in Jerusalem