The Israeli armed forces have seized 40% of Gaza City, as announced yesterday Thursday (4/9), while civil defense reported at least 64 deaths in Israeli raids across the Palestinian enclave, which has been largely flattened after nearly 23 months of war.
Over the past two weeks, the Israeli military has intensified its bombardments and ground operations in Gaza City. However, neither the military command nor Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have announced the launch of the main operation to capture the city, as envisioned in a plan approved in August.
According to civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal, among the 64 Palestinians killed yesterday, 30 were in Gaza City (north), which is presented by the Israeli military as Hamas’s last major stronghold in the small coastal territory. “Today, we control 40% of Gaza City area,” said armed forces spokesman Efi Defrin during televised statements. “The operation will continue and expand in the coming days (…) We will increase pressure on Hamas until its defeat,” he added.
According to UN estimates published weeks ago, nearly one million people are located in this city and its surroundings. Thousands have already fled. Yesterday, an Israeli military officer said he expects “one million” people to leave, moving southward.
“The unthinkable is already here”
The Israeli military estimates it currently controls about 75% of the Gaza Strip, a 365-square-kilometer area where approximately two million Palestinians live under siege, forced to be displaced repeatedly since the war erupted. The UN has declared famine conditions in sectors of the enclave, which the Israeli government denies.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government reiterates its intention to take security control of the area and eliminate the Hamas threat, which has been in power there since 2007. It continues operations despite intense domestic and international pressure to silence the weapons and secure the release of hostages abducted during the Hamas military wing’s raid on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the armed conflict.
“The unthinkable is not threatening, it is already here,” said Tess Ingram, UNICEF spokesperson, who visited Gaza City in Al Mawasi. “If there is no immediate and increased access to food (…) more children will die of hunger,” she warned.
Dozens dead
Daily, civil defense reports dozens of deaths in Israeli operations. However, given the restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and the inability to access many of its sectors, the French Agency notes it cannot independently verify casualty figures and announcements from any side.
Mr. Basal said a strike on displacement tents in Gaza City killed five people, including three children. The Israeli military reported targeting a “Hamas terrorist” and added it “regrets” if “innocent civilians” were harmed. Outside Shifa Hospital, where victims’ bodies were transported, a woman wept while caressing her son’s head on a stretcher. “Why did you leave me, my son? Why?” she repeated.
“They’re killing our children”
In the Nuseirat sector (central), Mr. Basal reported an Israeli strike on displacement tents there, with seven deaths, including three children. The Israeli military said it was unaware of strikes there. “They impose starvation on us, deprive us of water, displace us and kill our children before the eyes of the whole world,” erupted Um Nabil al-Ais, who lost relatives in the bombing.
The October 7, 2023 raid resulted in 1,219 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to a French Agency count based on official data. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 47 remain hostages in the Gaza Strip, though 25 have been declared dead by the Israeli military.
In the large-scale Israeli military retaliation operations, at least 64,231 people have died in the Palestinian enclave, mostly civilians, according to the latest figures from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, considered reliable by the UN.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry yesterday rejected statements made by Spanish European Commission Vice President Teresa Rivera in Paris, speaking of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. However, independent UN experts and NGOs also denounce that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave. Meanwhile, Hamas announced yesterday that a meeting was held in Doha, Qatar’s capital, between its officials and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s diplomatic chief, Israel’s sworn enemy.
Source: ANA-MPA
