Scores of Palestinians, many pushing carts of belongings or carrying their possessions on their backs, fled Gaza City on Saturday as Israel ramped up its offensive, including with strikes that health officials said killed at least 14 people overnight.
Later in Israel, thousands joined the families of hostages still being held by Hamas to demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiate an end to the war.
There were protests in in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, where a large black banner was unfurled imploring U.S. President Donald Trump to help end the war, with “SAVE THEM!” in yellow letters .
The latest military strikes come as some prominent Western countries prepare to recognize Palestinian statehood at the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly next week. They include the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg.
In a statement Friday, Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday. The Iberian country had previously announced its plans to do so but now set an official date.
The latest Israeli operation, which began this week, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire further out of reach. The Israeli military, which says it wants to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure” and urged Palestinians to leave, hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months.
Israeli bombardment over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas of the strip, displaced around 90 per cent of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.
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Dr. Rami Mhanna, the managing director of Shifa Hospital, where some of the bodies were brought, said the dead included six people from the same family after a strike hit their home early Saturday morning. They were relatives of the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said five others were killed in another strike close to Shawa Square.
Israel’s military said it couldn’t comment on the specific strikes without more information, but that it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities” and “takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”
Israel has been urging hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City to move south to what it calls a humanitarian zone and opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate.
Palestinians were streaming out of Gaza City by car and on foot, though many in the famine-stricken city are unwilling to be uprooted again, too weak to leave or unable to afford the cost of moving.
Along the coastal Wadi Gaza route, those too exhausted to continue stopped to catch their breath and give their children a much-needed break from the difficult journey.
“No water, electricity, or internet. People are forced to leave with nothing,” said Seif Abu Oomsan. “They target us with things you wouldn’t imagine, like science fiction. They target us with missiles that we have never heard of.”
“We are headed toward the unknown. Nobody knows where they are going,” said Faris Swafiri.
Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. They are appealing for a ceasefire so aid can reach those who need it.
Families of hostages still held by Hamas accused Netanyahu of condemning their loved ones to death by continuing to fight rather than negotiate an end to the war.
“The blood of our loved ones is, for him, nothing more than a political tool to cling to power,” they said in a statement read outside Netanyahu’s residence. “As long as there is war, Netanyahu has a government.”
Hanna Cohen, whose niece Inbar Hayman was kidnapped and killed in captivity and whose remains are still in Gaza, said: “It’s hard to believe another Rosh Hashanah (Jewish new year) is coming and our Inbar isn’t with us.
“There is no greater pain than parents who lose a child in such a cruel way and don’t even have a grave to visit.”
Speaking at the Jerusalem protest, freed hostage Iair Horn asked: “What kind of country will we be if we abandon our own? What happens to our nation if we’re willing to sacrifice the hostages?”
Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to still be alive. Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Meanwhile, an Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza for 584 days before being released in May said he will return to Israeli military service next month. Edan Alexander, 21, was kidnapped by Hamas from a base near the Gaza border and was the last living Israeli hostage freed from captivity.
“We cannot forget them,” he said Friday. “We cannot stop until they are all home.”
UNICEF trucks robbed
On Friday, UNICEF said lifesaving therapeutic food meant for thousands of children in Gaza was stolen from four of its trucks. The statement said armed people approached the trucks outside their compound in Gaza City and held the drivers at gunpoint while the food was taken.
“They were intended to treat malnourished children in Gaza City where famine is declared … it was a life-saving shipment amid the severe restrictions on aid delivery to Gaza City,” said Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for UNICEF.
In a statement Friday, Israel’s army blamed Hamas for stealing the food.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid and using it to fund its military activities, without providing evidence. The U.N. says there are mechanisms in place that prevent any significant diversion of aid.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death count in Gaza has surpassed 65,100 since the attack by Hamas that triggered the war. The ministry, part of a Hamas government, does not say how many of the dead were civilians or militants. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the U.N. and many independent experts.
