CAIRO – Israeli bombardment pushed more Palestinians out of their homes in Gaza City on Thursday, while thousands of residents defied Israeli orders to leave, remaining behind in the ruins in the path of Israel’s latest advance.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire across the enclave had killed at least 53 people on Thursday, most of them in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have advanced through the outer suburbs and are now a few km (miles) from the city centre.
Israel launched the offensive in Gaza City on August 10, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says is a plan to defeat Hamas militants once and for all in the part of Gaza where Israeli troops fought most heavily in the war’s initial phase.
The campaign has prompted international criticism because of the dire humanitarian crisis in the area, and has provoked unusual expressions of concern within Israel, including accounts of tension over strategy between some military commanders and political leaders.
“This time, I am not leaving my house. I want to die here. It doesn’t matter if we move out or stay. Tens of thousands of those who left their homes were killed by Israel too, so why bother?” Um Nader, a mother of five from Gaza City, told Reuters via text message.
Residents said Israel bombarded Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Sabra, Tuffah, and Shejaia districts from ground and air. Tanks pushed into the eastern part of the Sheikh Radwan district northwest of the city centre, destroying houses and causing fires in tent encampments.
In heavy bombardment in the Tuffah neighbourhood, medics said five houses were damaged by Israeli strikes that killed eight people and wounded dozens of others.
“The Israeli occupation targeted a gathering of civilians and several homes in the Mashahra area of the Tuffah neighbourhood — a fire belt that completely destroyed four buildings,” said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson of the territory’s civil emergency service.
“Even if the Israeli occupation issues warnings, there are no places that can accommodate the civilians; there are no alternate places for the people to go to.”
There was no immediate Israeli comment on those reports. The Israeli military has said it is operating on the outskirts of the city to dismantle militants’ tunnels and locate weapons.
Much of Gaza City was laid to waste in the war’s initial weeks in October-November 2023. About a million people lived there before the war, and hundreds of thousands are believed to have returned to live among the ruins, especially since Israel ordered people out of other areas and launched offensives elsewhere.
Israel, which has now told civilians to leave Gaza City again for their safety, says 70,000 have done so, heading south. Palestinian officials say less than half that number have left, and many thousands are still in the path of Israel’s advance.
