Gaza’s civil defence agency reported on Thursday that at least 44 people were killed in fresh Israeli strikes, including 25 in Gaza City, where the military has intensified bombardments ahead of a planned major offensive.
Nearly two years into the ongoing war, Israel has reinforced its presence in recent days, with ground troops positioned on the outskirts of Gaza City, the largest urban area in the enclave. The United Nations estimates that nearly one million people live in and around the city, which has been declared famine-stricken.
A senior Israeli military official said on Wednesday that the planned push to capture Gaza City would likely trigger mass displacement, with up to one million Palestinians expected to flee south.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed that an Israeli airstrike on Thursday struck a tent housing a displaced Palestinian family in Gaza City, killing five people, including three children.
In Tel al-Hawa, the western neighbourhood of Gaza City where the strike occurred, AFP footage showed residents clearing through the wreckage of damaged tents. Among the scattered debris were a pair of bloodstained pink slippers.
Local resident Israa al-Basous recalled: “My children and I were sleeping in the tent when we heard the sound of bombing. Shrapnel fell on us, and my four children started screaming.”
At Al-Shifa Hospital, where casualties were being received, bodies wrapped in white shrouds lined the morgue floor. Outside, a grieving mother wept over the body of her son: “Who are you leaving me to, son? Why? Why?”
Further south in the Nuseirat refugee camp, civil defence officials reported another airstrike that killed seven people, including three children. AFP footage showed Yousef Suleiman walking through the ruins of a shelter, holding his granddaughter’s hand. He said his nephew, his nephew’s wife, and their two children were among the victims: “The entire tent was destroyed, along with everyone inside.”
Due to media restrictions in Gaza and limited access to some areas, AFP could not independently verify the death tolls provided by civil defence authorities or the Israeli military.
The current war erupted after Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and several other countries, launched an attack on Israel in October 2023 that left 1,219 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has since killed at least 64,231 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to data from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which the United Nations has said it considers reliable.
What You Should Know
The latest escalation in Gaza has left 44 people dead, with Israel preparing a new offensive in Gaza City that could displace up to a million Palestinians.
Nearly two years since Hamas’s 2023 attack that triggered the war, the conflict has claimed over 64,000 Palestinian lives and continues to deepen the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
