Israeli forces have stepped up attacks in several areas of the northern Gaza Strip, despite ongoing renewed talks on a ceasefire.
At least 50 people have been killed in the past 24 hours and dozens more injured in strikes across the besieged coastal enclave, Gaza’s health ministry said on Tuesday.
Israeli tanks have stepped up their incursions into parts of Gaza City, such as Shujayea, Sabra and Tal al-Hawa, where residents have reported some of the fiercest fighting since the start of the war.
The armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said they fought Israeli troops in Tal al-Hawa with anti-tank rocket and mortar fire, inflicting casualties on Gaza City residents. Residents reported “explosions and numerous gun battles” as well as helicopter strikes overnight in southwestern neighborhoods.
The Israeli military has focused its attention on Gaza City after announcing it had intelligence showing that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters were operating there.
Residents of Gaza City have now been urged to move to the central district of Deir el-Balah, which the United Nations says “is already seriously overcrowded by 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 expanded its attacks there.
Maha Mahfouz fled her home with her two children and many other Palestinians from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. She said their area was not affected by the latest evacuation orders, but “we are panicking because the shelling and shooting are very close to us.”
Women and children killed
Seven people were killed in an explosion at a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Six people were killed in an attack on a house on al-Jalaa Street in northern Gaza City, and three others were killed in a bombing in nearby Lababida.
Marwan al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian hospital, said the hospital had received 80 patients and wounded. They had to be crammed into “every corner” as Gaza’s medical facilities were overwhelmed by the wounded and struggled to remain operational due to Israeli attacks and a lack of supplies.
“Many cases require urgent surgery. Many patients have direct head injuries and require intensive care. Fuel and medical supplies are running out,” he said.
He said the hospital also received 16 bodies, half of them women and children.
Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the Civil Defense, said the army shelled homes in the Jaffa neighborhood of Gaza City and that first responders “saw people lying on the ground and were unable to retrieve them.”
In a situation update released Tuesday, the Israeli military said its forces had “eliminated dozens of terrorists and located numerous weapons” during its operations in Gaza City.
His troops are continuing their raids “above and below ground” in the Shujayea district, he added.
The UN Human Rights Office said it was “appalled” by the latest mass evacuation orders as “civilians continue to be killed and injured”.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 38,243 people have been killed and 88,033 wounded in the Israeli-led war since October 7. The war began that day after Hamas attacked the southern Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,139 people and taking dozens of prisoners.
Hassan Barari, a professor of international affairs at Qatar University, said the level of attacks on the civilian population is nothing new.
“These atrocities have been the hallmark of the Israeli operation in Gaza from the very beginning,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Ceasefire talks
As Israel intensifies its bombardment of northern Gaza, Hamas and Israeli officials are discussing a possible ceasefire with mediators.
But on Monday, Hamas warned that the escalation of attacks would bring negotiations to “zero.” Its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said he had made “urgent contacts” with mediators, warning them of the “catastrophic consequences” of the deadly incursions.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discussed on Tuesday in Cairo with the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
Burns and Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea will reportedly travel to Doha on Wednesday and meet with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, a key mediator.
Barari said the first phase of the ceasefire proposal – six weeks without fighting – is crucial for the people of Gaza to regain some sense of security after nine months of relentless attacks and to receive the humanitarian aid they desperately need.
“The continuation of the war is not good for the Palestinians, but it is not good for the Israelis either. If the Israeli government succeeds in securing the release of the hostages, the momentum for the continuation of the war will diminish more and more,” Barari said.
“I think this would be a wake-up call to Israeli society: the time has come to end the war.”