GazaHerald – Israeli forces increased their offensive to capture Gaza City and drive out nearly a million residents on Saturday, killing at least 77 Palestinians throughout Gaza.
47 people were killed in northern Gaza City, and 11 civilians were shot as they waited in line for food aid. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that ten more people, including three children, died of malnutrition within the past 24 hours.
In Gaza City, three successive Israeli strikes ripped through an apartment building, killing at least seven and wounding many others, including children. Witnesses described scenes of “mayhem and chaos” as rescuers carried bleeding children to hospitals.
“Many children were wounded. They arrived at the hospital fully soaked in their own blood. We saw one child transferred to the hospital who had the flesh of others sticking to his back,” said a local resident.
The strike was the latest in Israel’s campaign since declaring Gaza City a “combat zone.”
Families Driven From Their Homes Again and Again
With heavy bombardment across the north, thousands of families are fleeing once more, many setting up makeshift tents around Nuseirat refugee camp and near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza under miserable conditions.
Mohamed Maalouf, 50, displaced from Beit Lahiya with his family of nine, expressed his despair:
“We are thrown in the streets. Like, what would I say? Like dogs? We are not like dogs. Dogs are treated better than us. We have no homes. We are on the streets.”
Similar stories are emerging from Jabalia, where relentless Israeli strikes have forced mass flight. Mohammed Abu Warda, who left Jabalia for western Gaza City, said:
“Hopefully I can find a place to set up a tent… Everything here is useless, and everywhere is unsafe. The Israelis attack every single place.”
The Israeli army announced Friday that it had begun the “initial stages” of its Gaza City offensive, declaring the area a combat zone and urging civilians to evacuate. But the International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the order, calling it impossible under current conditions.
“It is impossible that a mass evacuation of Gaza City could ever be done in a way that is safe and dignified,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger. “Such an evacuation would trigger a massive population movement that no area in the Gaza Strip can absorb, given the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and the extreme shortages of food, water, shelter, and medical care.”
Ethnic Cleansing Fears
Despite mounting international condemnation, Israel shows no sign of halting the assault. Critics warn that the strategy amounts to ethnic cleansing. Gideon Levy, a columnist for Israel’s Haaretz, said the plan is clear:
“The plan is to push all the inhabitants of Gaza out of their houses, then lock them in those concentration camps, and then give them two choices: either to live in those camps forever or to leave the Gaza Strip.”
Levy described the policy as “outrageous,” adding that Israel will only stop if U.S. President Donald Trump decides “enough is enough” and pressures his close ally.
Since early August, Israel has launched sustained bombardments on Gaza City, striking densely populated neighborhoods and forcing desperate families into endless cycles of displacement. With deaths mounting from both bombs and hunger, Gaza’s civilians face a deepening catastrophe, one that aid officials warn is not only inhumane but also unsustainable.
