CAIRO: Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, placing at risk the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.
U.S. President Donald Trump met leaders of Muslim countries at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday for talks that the Emirati state news agency said had focused on a permanent ceasefire in the war as well as the release of Israeli hostages and ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Trump, who also condemned moves by several Western allies to put pressure on Israel by recognising a Palestinian state, said a meeting with Israel would be next.
Israel has pressed on with its military campaign on Gaza City despite repeated calls for it to pull back, urging the population to move south.
Gaza hit by telecoms blackout as Israeli tanks advance
MANY REMAIN IN GAZA CITY AMID SECURITY CONCERNS
Hundreds of thousands have left the city in northern Gaza but many have hesitated because of security risks and widespread hunger.
“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa.
Israeli forces began closing in on the city of more than a million in August, with Israel saying it aimed to destroy the last stronghold of Hamas whose attack on Israel and seizure of hostages triggered the war nearly two years ago.
Medics said at least 50 people were killed across Gaza on Wednesday, mostly in Gaza City, where Israeli airstrikes hit a shelter housing displaced families near a market in the middle of the city. Two others were killed in a house nearby, they said.
Israeli strikes kill 31 people in Gaza City
The Israeli military said the strike had targeted two Hamas fighters and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians.
Footage obtained by Reuters showed people sifting through the rubble.
“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign – it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj. “There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”
In the city’s Tel Al-Hawa suburb, tanks entered populated areas trapping people in their homes, while more tanks were seen stationed close to Al-Quds Hospital, witnesses said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an oxygen station had been damaged.
Tanks have also advanced closer to Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, witnesses and Hamas media said. The Israeli military said the Hamas had opened fire from within the hospital compound, which Hamas denied.
“We fear these lies may be a prelude to another raid on the hospital,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Gaza government media office, in reference to several previous raids by Israeli forces.
Israel’s military released grainy aerial footage, which appeared to show gunfire coming from two windows. The military did not immediately respond to Reuters queries about how it established it was Hamas who had opened fire and at whom.
A Hamas security official said “criminal gangs” had opened fire at the hospital from outside the complex.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the conflicting accounts.
Israel sends tanks deeper into Gaza City, more families flee
Separately, two Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank over the past 24 hours, one during a raid by Israeli troops in Anza village outside Jenin, and another was shot in al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, by an Israeli settler, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Violence in the West Bank has become more intense during the Gaza war, as Israel has stepped up raids across the territory. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the incidents.
INTERNATIONAL FRUSTRATION OVER THE WAR
In southern Gaza, at least 13 people were killed in Nuseirat and near Rafah, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says its attacks are aimed at ending Hamas rule of the enclave.
Israel has drawn widespread condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities, and famine has spread.
International frustration over the war prompted some Israeli and U.S. allies to recognize a Palestinian state this week. Support for the war in Israel has also wavered, with 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, still held by Hamas in Gaza and 465 soldiers killed in combat.
Hamas has acknowledged the death of some of its military leaders but has not disclosed the number of its fighters killed.
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