Israel said on Wednesday it would keep open for 48 hours an additional corridor for civilians to leave Gaza City, part of a push to clear non-combatants before intensifying operations against thousands of Hamas fighters in the enclave’s main urban centre.
Hundreds of thousands remain sheltering in the city. Many are wary of heading south because of strikes along the way, overcrowded and hungry conditions there, and fears they will never be allowed back.
“Even if we want to leave Gaza City, is there any guarantee we would be able to come back? Will the war ever end? That’s why I prefer to die here, in Sabra, my neighbourhood,” said Ahmed, a schoolteacher, by phone.
Gaza health authorities reported at least 63 people killed on Wednesday by air and ground fire across the strip, most of them in Gaza City. They said the latest fatalities lifted the Palestinian death toll since the war began to more than 65,000, adding that many bodies are still believed to be under collapsed buildings.
The conflict erupted after Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people, with 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.
Slow advances, long timeline
A day after announcing the start of its ground push to seize Gaza City, Israel deployed tanks from three axes toward central and western districts, though no major breakthrough was reported.
An Israeli official said current efforts were focused on moving civilians south and that combat would ramp up over “the next month or two.” Israel expects roughly 100,000 civilians to remain in Gaza City and believes taking full control will take months, the official added, saying operations could be paused if a ceasefire deal with Hamas emerges.
Prospects for a truce dimmed after Israel struck Hamas political leaders in Doha last week, angering Qatar, a co-mediator in talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will target Hamas leaders anywhere, despite criticism from allies including the United States.
Hospital incident, leaflets and flight south
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said an Israeli drone dropped grenades on a floor of Rantissi children’s hospital, causing no casualties but prompting some 40 families to evacuate sick children. “This hospital is the only specialist facility for children with cancer, kidney failure, and other life-threatening conditions – but even these gravely ill children are not spared,” said Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director for UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
In leaflets over Gaza City, the army said Palestinians could use the reopened Salahudin Road to move south and set a deadline of midday Friday. Civilians have continued to flee by foot, donkey cart and vehicle amid sporadic fire and rubble-strewn streets.
Large parts of Gaza City were flattened in 2023, but about a million people had trickled back since then. Forcing them out again would cram most of Gaza’s population into already overcrowded southern camps where hunger is deepening.
International censure
The United Nations, aid organisations and foreign governments have condemned the offensive and the prospect of mass displacement. In a separate development on Tuesday, a U.N. Commission of Inquiry concluded Israel has committed genocide in Gaza — a finding Israel called “scandalous” and “fake”.
Israeli forces hold Gaza City’s eastern suburbs and have been striking three sectors in the southeast, north and along the northwest coast while pressing armour toward the centre and western neighbourhoods.
“Gaza is being wiped out. A city that is thousands of years old is being wiped out in front of the whole cowardly world,” said Ahmed, the schoolteacher.
In the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, an airstrike levelled a high-rise on Wednesday, sending residents in adjacent blocks fleeing in panic. Palestinian and U.N. officials say no area is genuinely safe, including the southern “humanitarian zone” designated by Israel. On Tuesday, an airstrike hit a vehicle carrying people leaving Gaza City, killing five.