DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A barrage of airstrikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza City as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to evacuate, medical staff reported Saturday.
Israel in recent days has intensified strikes across Gaza City, destroying multiple high-rise buildings and accusing Hamas of putting surveillance equipment in them.
On Saturday the army said it struck another high-rise used by Hamas in the area of Gaza City.
Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that more than a quarter of a million people had left Gaza City — from an estimated 1 million who live in the area of north Gaza around the city.
Families of the hostages still held in Gaza are pleading with Israel to halt the offensive, worried it’ll kill their relatives.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — As Israel intensifies its offensive in Gaza City and pressures Palestinians to leave, a flurry of airstrikes killed at least 32 people throughout the city, according to medical personnel on Saturday.
Twelve children were among the deceased, according to the Shifa Hospital morgue, where the bodies were taken.
Israeli strikes in Gaza City have gotten more intense in recent days, destroying several high-rise structures and blaming Hamas for installing surveillance equipment there.
According to the army, it hit another Hamas-used high-rise in the Gaza City area on Saturday. As part of an offensive to seize control of the biggest Palestinian city, which it claims is Hamas’ final stronghold, it has issued an evacuation order. Famine is still plaguing hundreds of thousands of people there.
A mother and her three children were among the ten people killed in a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood by one of the strikes that occurred overnight and into Saturday morning, according to health officials. According to the Palestinian Football Association, Mohammed Ramez Sultan, a member of the Al-Helal Sporting Club, and 14 other family members perished in the attacks. Pictures showed smoke plumes after the strikes.
Questions concerning the strikes were not immediately answered by Israel’s army.
Relatives of hostages gather in Israel.
In the meantime, relatives of Israeli hostages detained by Hamas gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for an agreement to free their loved ones and denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s alleged ineffective strategy for reaching a settlement.
“Spectacular failure” is how Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, described Israel’s attempt to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar this week.
Yesterday, President Trump claimed that Netanyahu bombs someone whenever the talks make headway. However, he attempted to bomb not Hamas leaders but rather our opportunity as families to bring our loved ones home,” Zangauker stated.
Many Palestinians are stuck in Gaza City, while some are fleeing.
The number of people fleeing has increased in recent weeks, aid workers say, following calls to evacuate the city and escalating hostilities. However, the expense of housing and transportation keeps many families stuck, and some have been uprooted too many times and are unwilling to relocate because they don’t believe that anyplace in the enclave is safe.
Israel’s army requested on Saturday that the remaining Palestinians in Gaza City evacuate “immediately” and relocate south to what it is referring to as a humanitarian zone in a social media post. According to Army spokesman Avichay Adraee, out of the estimated one million residents in the northern Gaza region surrounding Gaza City, over a quarter of a million have fled.
However, the United Nations estimated that between mid-August and mid-September, about 100,000 people had departed. The U. “N.”. and aid organizations have cautioned that the severe humanitarian crisis will worsen if hundreds of thousands of people are forced to relocate. According to the United States, the southern Gaza sites that Israel is directing people to visit are overcrowded. No. and moving can be expensive, which many people lack.
an endeavor led by the U. No. as of last week, more than 86,000 tents and other supplies were still pending authorization to enter Gaza, according to the initiative to provide temporary shelters there.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, seven people, including children, have died from malnutrition-related causes in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities since the start of the conflict to 420, including 145 children.
Days after Israel struck Hamas leaders in Qatar, the bombardment of Gaza City on Friday night stepped up Israel’s campaign against the militant group and jeopardized peace talks in Gaza.
Concerned that the offensive will kill their relatives, the families of the hostages still in Gaza are begging Israel to stop it. About 20 of the 48 hostages who are still in Gaza are thought to be alive.
In October, militants led by Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the start of the Gaza War. 7 2023, killing about 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and kidnapping 251 others. At least 64,803 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not specify the number of combatants or civilians killed. It states that women and children accounted for about half of the fatalities. Approximately 90% of the 2 million Palestinians have been displaced, and parts of major cities have been totally destroyed.
