Israeli tanks and warplanes have intensified their bombardment of Gaza City, killing 25 and triggering a mass displacement of Palestinian civilians from the territory’s largest urban center. Meanwhile, four invading troops were killed in a bomb explosion.
The death toll since dawn on Thursday continues to rise, with at least 25 Palestinians killed in Gaza so far, medical sources said. At least 19 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza City alone, where Israeli tanks and jets continued bombing as the military intensified its onslaught on the territory’s largest urban area.
Long lines of displaced people were seen fleeing south on foot, in vehicles, and on donkey carts, their belongings piled high, as thick smoke rose over the city.
According to residents cited by Reuters, Israeli tanks were deployed in areas considered gateways to the city center. “There is artillery fire, airstrikes, quadcopter and drone gunfire. The bombing never stops,” said Aya Ahmed sheltering with 13 relatives in Gaza City.
More than 60 people had been killed by Israeli fire on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
A military statement said Thursday that an officer and three soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in Rafah city. The Israeli military said the dead troops served with the Dekel Battalion, adding that three other soldiers, who were cadets and posthumously promoted to lieutenant, were also injured in the blast.
In August, Israel’s war cabinet approved a military blueprint to occupy Gaza City and tighten its grip on the blockaded strip.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier announced that the Tel Aviv regime intended to “take control” of the entire Palestinian territory.
Gaza’s health ministry stated that four more Palestinians, including a child, died from starvation on Thursday, raising the total number of such fatalities to 435 since the war began, 147 of whom are children.
Internet and phone lines have been cut off across Gaza since Wednesday after Israeli forces targeted routes and infrastructure.
The war of genocide continues to draw severe international condemnation. A United Nations investigation has found Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, stating that Netanyahu and other senior officials incited the crime.
Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal campaign in Gaza on October 2023, it has killed 65,141 people and wounded 165,697, most of them women and children.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES ]
