At least 50 people were killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period and dozens wounded in strikes throughout the besieged coastal enclave, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. Israeli forces ramped up attacks on areas across the northern Gaza Strip despite new ceasefire discussions taking place.
Israeli tanks deepened their incursions into some Gaza City districts such as Shujayea, Sabra and Tal al-Hawa, where residents reported some of the fiercest fighting since the start of the war.
The armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said they fought against Israeli soldiers in Tal al-Hawa with antitank rockets and mortar fire and inflicted casualties. Gaza City residents reported “explosions and numerous gun battles” as well as helicopter strikes through the night in southwestern neighbourhoods.
The Israeli army has focused its attention on Gaza City after announcing it had intelligence showing Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters were operating there.
Gaza City residents have now been told to move to the central district of Deir el-Balah, which the United Nations said “is already seriously overcrowded with Palestinians displaced from other areas of the Gaza Strip”.
In the first weeks of the war, Israel had called on civilians in the north of the enclave to move south, declaring the area a “safe zone” but later expanding its attacks there.
Maha Mahfouz fled her home with her two children and many other Palestinians from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood. She said their area was not included in the latest evacuation orders, but “we are panicked because the bombing and gunfire are very close to us.”
