Israeli forces pushed deeper into a neighborhood in Gaza City, instructing Palestinians to move southward as tanks rolled in.
Concurrently, the southern city of Rafah was bombarded in what Israel claims are the final stages of an operation targeting Hamas militants.
Residents of Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood reported being caught off guard by the advancing tanks, which opened fire in the afternoon, following drone attacks overnight.
“It’s like the war is starting all over again,” said Mohammed Jamal, a 25-year-old Gaza City resident, via a messaging app.
“Multiple airstrikes destroyed many houses in the area and shook buildings.”
The Palestinian Civil Defense reported casualties in Shuja’iyya, but ongoing attacks prevented their teams from reaching the victims. Initial reports indicate three people were killed in earlier shelling, and five were killed in the Sabra neighborhood.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad allied with Hamas, claimed responsibility for detonating a pre-planted explosive device against an Israeli tank east of Shuja’iyya.
Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields and advises displaced individuals to avoid areas of military operations.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army spokesperson for Arabic media, tweeted, “To all residents and displaced persons in Shuja’iyya, the new neighborhoods, Turkman and Tuffah… for your safety, evacuate immediately southwards on Salah al-Din Road to the humanitarian zone.”
Hamas-affiliated media and local residents reported that tanks had already advanced before the evacuation announcement, prompting people in the eastern neighborhood to flee westward under fire while Israel closed off the southern route. The Israeli military has not issued any further comments.
More than eight months into the Israeli-Gaza conflict, which began after a surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, aid workers warn of severe famine risk in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly half a million people face “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity. “We’re facing famine in northern Gaza, being hunted by tanks and planes with no hope for a ceasefire,” Jamal added.
Death of Another Child Due to Malnutrition
A health sector official reported that another child’s death at Kamal Adwan Hospital late Wednesday raised the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration to at least 31 children.
The ongoing conflict complicates tracking such cases. Israel denies causing famine conditions, blaming distribution issues on relief agencies and accusing Hamas of hoarding aid, allegations Hamas denies.
In southern Gaza, drone footage on social media, not yet verified by Reuters, showed extensive destruction in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, with the village of As-Suwaydiya completely obliterated. The Israeli military has not commented on last night’s military activities.
International mediation efforts, backed by the United States, have yet to yield a ceasefire agreement despite ongoing negotiations and continuous Western pressure to allow more aid into Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated on Wednesday that he discussed Gaza’s post-war governance, involving local Palestinians, regional partners, and the U.S., but described the process as “long and complex.”
Senior U.S. officials informed Gallant, during his visit to Washington, that the U.S. would continue to withhold a shipment of heavy munitions to Israel until discussions on this issue are completed.
The U.S. suspended the shipment in early May due to concerns that the weapons would cause further Palestinian casualties in Gaza.
Hamas insists that any agreement must end the war and ensure a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In contrast, Israel maintains that to eradicate the group that has controlled Gaza since 2007, it will only agree to a temporary cessation of hostilities.
Hamas militants’ October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and over 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday that the Israeli military campaign has killed 37,658 Palestinians and left the densely populated enclave in ruins.
The ministry’s statistics do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but officials assert that the majority of the casualties are civilians. Israel has lost 314 soldiers in Gaza and claims that at least one-third of the Palestinian fatalities were militants.