GAZA CITY: Israeli tanks and warplanes intensified their bombardment of Gaza City on Thursday, creating what a top United Nations official described as new waves of mass displacement.
Witnesses and AFP journalists observed a continuous stream of Palestinians fleeing south on foot, in vehicles, and on donkey carts, carrying their limited belongings.
Aya Ahmed, a 32-year-old sheltering with 13 relatives in Gaza City, reported constant artillery fire, air strikes, and drone gunfire throughout the area.
“The world doesn’t understand what is happening,“ she said, questioning where evacuees could live given the lack of tents, transport, and money.
Palestinians noted that transportation costs to the south have surged, sometimes exceeding one thousand dollars per ride.
The offensive has drawn international outrage, with Gaza already devastated by nearly two years of war and the city area experiencing a UN-declared famine.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that military actions and evacuation orders are forcing traumatised families into increasingly cramped areas unfit for human dignity.
He warned that overwhelmed hospitals are nearing collapse as escalating violence blocks access and prevents the delivery of lifesaving supplies.
Gaza hospitals reported at least 12 people killed in overnight Israeli strikes, including three children.
Gaza’s civil defence agency, operating under Hamas authority, said Israeli fire killed at least 64 people on Wednesday, with 41 deaths occurring in Gaza City.
The Israeli military confirmed it continued to target Hamas terror infrastructure and operated in southern areas including Rafah and Khan Yunis.
Media restrictions and access difficulties prevent independent verification of details from either the civil defence or the Israeli military.
Israel launched its US-backed ground offensive on Gaza City on Tuesday, vowing to destroy Hamas in the region.
This development followed a United Nations probe accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and inciting the crime through statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.
Israel rejected these findings as distorted and false.
Navi Pillay, who headed the investigation, expressed hope that Israeli leaders would eventually face imprisonment, drawing parallels to methods used in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Spain announced it will investigate human rights violations in Gaza to support the International Criminal Court, which has sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials over alleged war crimes.
The Israeli military established a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street, with spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee announcing it would remain open for 48 hours.
The United Nations estimated approximately one million people resided in Gaza City and surrounding areas at the end of August, while Israel claims 350,000 have fled.
Gaza City resident Mohammed al-Danf pleaded for freedom and life, directly addressing Netanyahu to emphasise their desire to live rather than die.
Families of hostages taken by Palestinian militants in October 2023 protested the Gaza City offensive outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence on Wednesday.
Ofir Braslavski, whose son Rom remains captive in Gaza, accused the prime minister of preventing his return instead of facilitating it.
Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage in October 2023, with 47 still in Gaza including 25 whom the Israeli military declares dead.
The initial attack resulted in 1,219 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,141 people, mostly civilians, based on figures from Gaza’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable. – AFP
