Israeli Attacks Intensify in Northern Gaza, Declares Gaza City "Dangerous Combat Zone”
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israel has intensified its attacks on Gaza City and northern Gaza, destroying entire neighborhoods and killing more civilians. On Friday, the military declared the city a "dangerous combat zone" as its forces advance deeper, amid stated plans to occupy the city.
In the morning hours, heavy explosions were heard coming from the eastern part of Gaza City, with particular focus on the Zeitoun neighbourhood.
However, throughout the night, especially past midnight, drones, heavy artillery, and fighter jets carried out a series of deadly strikes, many of them concentrated in the northern part of the Strip. Residents reported a number of explosions following Israel’s detonating of booby-trapped robots.
In Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, a densely populated area where many families displaced from the Shujayea, Tuffah, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun, have been sheltering inside whatever buildings remain, Israeli strikes also took place there.
The Sheikh Radwan, a neighbourhood in northwestern Gaza City, has also come under sustained Israeli assault.
Palestinian families have been fleeing neighborhoods in Gaza City while reporting heavy bombardment.
On Friday, Israel said it is suspending the so-called pauses to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza City, calling it a "dangerous combat zone". The city was among locations where Israel allegedly paused attacks last month to allow for food and aid supplies to enter between 10am and 8pm. Despite this, ongoing attacks were reported.
It comes as Israel prepares to widen its offensive to occupy Gaza City.
Gaza City Occupy Plan
Two weeks ago, Hamas agreed to a proposal by Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a 60-day ceasefire, which according to Qatar would see the release of half of the remaining captives in Gaza.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apparently rejected this, saying he had instructed negotiations to begin only for the release of all remaining captives and an end to the war in Gaza on terms "acceptable to Israel".
Once the temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining captives.
However, mediators have been waiting for days for an official Israeli response to their latest ceasefire proposal.
Israel’s security cabinet three weeks ago approved plans to seize Gaza City, despite international condemnation from the United Nations and states.
The plan reportedly involves forcing around one million residents southwards before surrounding the city and launching incursions into residential areas, followed by an expansion into refugee camps in central Gaza.
Netanyahu said he will give final approval for the seizure of Gaza City despite talks for negotiations.
Speaking to soldiers near Gaza, Netanyahu said he was still set on approving plans for seizing Gaza City, the densely populated centre at the heart of the Palestinian enclave, forcibly displacing close to 1 million people and carrying out the systematic demolitions of Palestinian homes.
The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after Netanyahu grants final approval.
Israeli forces have already stepped up attacks there, and thousands of Palestinians have left their homes as Israeli tanks edged closer to Gaza City over the last 14 days.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimated that 90 percent of Gaza’s residents have been displaced, warning that shelters are deteriorating and any further displacement will worsen the catastrophic situation.
The Palestinian Ministry of Interior denounced Israel’s push to seize Gaza City as a “death sentence” for the more than one million people living there.
Israel has completely destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City since it started its invasion of the city on August 6, trapping hundreds under the rubble, the Palestinian Civil Defence said on Sunday.
Witnesses reported the sound of nonstop explosions overnights in the two neighborhoods, with several buildings being blown up in the northern city of Jabalia.
Residents and journalists have also documented that Israel has been heavily using booby-trapped robots in these areas.
One described a night as a “night from hell,” marked by relentless Israeli bombardment, including quadcopter fire, tank shelling, Apache helicopter strikes and fire, and the detonation of booby-trapped robots.
