Israeli bombardment of Gaza City is pushing more Palestinians out of their homes, residents have said.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire had killed at least 28 people on Thursday, most of them in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have advanced through the outer suburbs and are now only a few miles from the centre.
Israel launched its latest offensive in August with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it was designed to defeat Hamas militants in the city, but the campaign has prompted international criticism because of the dire humanitarian crisis in the area.
It has also provoked unusual concerns within Israel, including accounts of tension over strategy between some military commanders and political leaders.
A number of Israelis took part in nationwide demonstrations on Wednesday to protest against the call-up of 60,000 reservists for the expanded operation amid fears it could endanger hostages still held in Gaza.
Residents said Israel bombarded Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Sabra and Shejaia districts from ground and air. They said tanks pushed into the eastern part of the Sheikh Radwan district, situated northwest of the city centre, destroying houses and causing fires in tent encampments.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the reports, but its military has previously said it is operating on the outskirts of the city to dismantle militants’ tunnels and locate weapons.
Much of Gaza City was destroyed in the conflict’s initial weeks in October-November 2023. About a million people lived there before the war. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have returned to live among the ruins, and since Israel ordered people out of other areas and launched offensives elsewhere.
Israel has told civilians to leave Gaza City for their safety and, says 70,000 have done so, but Palestinian officials say less than half that number have left, and many thousands are still in the path of Israel’s advance.
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Nelson Mandela’s grandson has said Palestinians’ lives under Israeli occupation are worse than anything Black South Africans experienced under apartheid, and he urged the global community to come to their aid.
Mandla Mandela, 51, told Reuters news agency on Wednesday: “Many of us that have visited the occupied territories in Palestine have only come back with one conclusion: that the Palestinians are experiencing a far worse form of apartheid than we ever experienced.
“We believe that the global community has to continue supporting the Palestinians, just as they stood side-by-side with us.”
Read more:
‘At night we don’t sleep’: The West Bank family facing harassment
Inside the conflict forcing Palestinians from their homes
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Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has warned any Israeli move to annex the occupied West Bank would be a “red line”.
The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by US President Donald Trump, in which it and three other Arab countries forged ties with Israel.
Lana Nusseibeh, assistant minister for political affairs and envoy of the minister of foreign affairs of the UAE, told Reuters “annexation in the West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE”, as it would severely undermine “the vision and spirit” of the Abraham Accords and end the pursuit of regional integration.
