This week, Israeli air strikes have flattened two high-rises in Gaza City as troops intensified their operations, aiming to conquer the largest urban center in the Palestinian territory.
In a video shared by his office, Prime Minister Netanyahu told ministers at a cabinet meeting, “We are deepening the maneuver on the outskirts of Gaza City and within Gaza City itself.”
While Israel has not publicly announced the start of a major offensive to seize Gaza City, which Netanyahu’s cabinet approved last month, troops have intensified bombings and operations in the area for weeks.
“We are destroying terrorist infrastructure, we are demolishing identified terror towers,” Netanyahu said. The Israeli military claimed that the two high-rises flattened in recent strikes were used by Hamas to “monitor” Israeli troops—an accusation denied by the Palestinian group.
The escalation has fueled fears of a further deterioration of the already dire humanitarian conditions for Palestinians living in the area. Netanyahu said that Israel had “established another humanitarian zone to allow the civilian population in Gaza to move to a safe area.”
On Saturday, Israeli aircraft dropped thousands of leaflets over western neighborhoods of Gaza City urging residents to evacuate, according to witnesses and an AFP journalist.
Netanyahu stated that around 100,000 residents had already left Gaza City, accusing Hamas of trying to prevent evacuations and using civilians as “human shields.”
Mustafa Al-Jamal, a resident of Gaza City, told AFP on Saturday that he did not plan to leave. He explained that the area in southern Gaza that residents were told to evacuate to has been repeatedly bombed despite being declared a “safe zone.” He said, “Where can we go? We have no money, no tent, no house, no food.”
Israeli protesters took to the streets on Saturday to call on their government to reverse the decision to conquer Gaza City, fearing for the fate of hostages believed to be held there. “I am mortified by the fact that the Israeli army is conquering Gaza right now, for the hostages, for the soldiers, for the people in Gaza—this is a political war,” said Edith, a protester in Jerusalem who declined to give her full name.
Israel Urges Hamas to Surrender As strikes hit Gaza City, Israel pressed Hamas to surrender, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar saying the war could end if hostages were freed and weapons laid down. Hamas rejected the demand, insisting it would only release hostages if Israel halted the war and withdrew its forces.
