JERUSALEM: The Israeli military announced on Thursday that 700,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since late August as its offensive intensifies.
Contacted by AFP, the military confirmed that “700,000 Palestinians have evacuated” from the northern city to the south of the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA reported on Thursday that 388,400 displacement movements had been recorded since mid-August, with most originating from Gaza City.
The UN estimated at the end of August that approximately one million people lived in Gaza City and its surrounding areas, where it has declared a famine.
Israel launched a major air and ground offensive on the Palestinian territory’s main urban centre in its stated mission to root out Hamas after nearly two years of war.
“Over the past week, strikes in Gaza city have been especially intensive,“ OCHA said, highlighting attacks on displacement tents, residential buildings, and public infrastructure.
Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin stated at a televised briefing that since the operation began around Gaza City this month, “the Israeli army has carried out around 2,000 strikes against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip”.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes on Thursday killed at least 22 people across the territory, including five in Gaza City.
The civil defence said an air strike on a home sheltering displaced people in central Gaza killed 11 individuals.
Media restrictions and access difficulties in the territory prevent AFP from independently verifying the details provided by either the civil defence or the Israeli military.
AFP footage from the aftermath of the strike in Al-Zawaida camp showed Palestinians searching through rubble for survivors.
“The whole place was destroyed and nothing was left fit for human use,“ said resident Youssef Younis.
Another Al-Zawaida resident, Ahmed Abu Dahrouj, stated: “Our message is the war must end immediately because we are experiencing an extermination.”
Israel’s military offensives over nearly two years have killed at least 65,502 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. – AFP
