An Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip killed 29, mostly women and children, as they took shelter in tents outside a school in Abassan, east of Khan Younis, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli military said that it was investigating reports of civilian casualties and claimed to have targeted a Hamas fighter involved in the October 7 raid on Israel with “precise munition.”
Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, reported that Israeli strikes on central Gaza areas killed 60 Palestinians and injured dozens more on Tuesday.Residents of Gaza City were forced to evacuate their homes as Israeli tanks advanced into the Tel Al-Hawa, Shejaia, and Sabra neighborhoods, shelling roads and buildings. The Israeli military posted evacuation orders for several districts in eastern and western Gaza City on social media.
“We hold the occupation and the US administration responsible for the horrifying massacres against civilians,” said Thawabta in a statement.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported receiving numerous humanitarian distress calls from Gaza City early on Wednesday but was unable to respond due to the intense bombing. Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters claimed to have engaged Israeli forces with machine guns, mortar fire, and anti-tank missiles, inflicting casualties on Israeli soldiers. Israel’s military did not comment on casualties but said that its soldiers were involved in close-quarter combat with militants and had neutralized over 150 fighters in the past week while destroying booby-trapped buildings and explosives.
The renewed Israeli campaign threatened ongoing ceasefire talks, which Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh warned could bring negotiations “back to square one.” Video footage on social media showed families fleeing Gaza City’s streets on donkey carts and trucks loaded with mattresses and belongings, following Israeli evacuation orders.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that all of its medical clinics in Gaza City were out of service due to the Israeli evacuation orders, which have displaced thousands of people. Independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations warned that nine months of war and displacement have caused a hunger crisis and the spread of famine throughout the Gaza Strip, as evidenced by the recent deaths of several children from malnutrition.
In Al-Nuseirat, central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on a multi-story house early on Tuesday killed 17 people, including 14 children and a woman, according to Hamas’ media office. Neighbors assisted medics and emergency workers in recovering bodies and searching for survivors under the rubble.
Across Gaza, more than 40 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes on various locations, bringing the total Palestinian death toll in the nine-month-long Israeli military offensive to 38,243, according to Gaza health officials. Despite Hamas accepting a key part of a US ceasefire proposal last week, hopes for a pause in the fighting have been dampened by the recent escalation.