Weeks after Israel sent ground forces and tanks into northern Gaza, the army has been airdropping leaflets in the besieged territory’s south, especially around Khan Yunis, telling Palestinians there to flee to other areas.
The army “continues to expand its ground operation against main Hamas fronts in the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said Sunday. “Wherever there is a Hamas stronghold, the IDF operates.”
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that she had arrived in war-torn Gaza, warning that the suffering in the Palestinian territory was “intolerable”.
“I repeat our urgent call for civilians to be protected in line with the laws of war and for aid to enter unimpeded,” Mirjana Spoljaric said on X, adding that “the hostages must be released and ICRC allowed to safely visit them”.
Full-scale fighting resumed on Friday after the collapse of a week-long truce brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, during which Israel and Hamas had exchanged scores of hostages and prisoners.
Air strikes have since intensified in Gaza’s south, said James Elder, a spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency Unicef.
“Despite what has been assured, attacks in the south of Gaza are every bit as vicious as what the north endured,” he posted Monday on X.
“Somehow, it’s getting worse for children and mothers.”
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Where China stands on the Israel-Gaza war
Where China stands on the Israel-Gaza war
Israel has vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the Islamist militant group’s October 7 attacks that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s military said on Sunday it had carried out around 10,000 air strikes in total, while Gaza militants had resumed rocket salvoes into Israel, most of which had been intercepted.
The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 15,500 people have been killed in Gaza, about 70 per cent of them women and children – a death toll that has sparked global alarm and mass demonstrations.
“There is no safe place in Gaza,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said as a UN agency estimated around 1.8 million people in Gaza, roughly 75 per cent of the population, had been displaced.
Under the temporary truce that expired on Friday, 80 Israeli hostages were freed, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. More than two dozen Thai and other captives were also released from Gaza.
6 Thais working in Israel held hostage by Hamas in Gaza return home
6 Thais working in Israel held hostage by Hamas in Gaza return home
With at least 137 hostages still held in Gaza, according to the Israeli military, Hamas has ruled out more releases until a permanent ceasefire is agreed.
More air strikes have rained down on northern Gaza where the Hamas-run government and the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the entrance of the Kamal Adwan hospital was hit late on Sunday.
Several people were killed in the strike, Wafa said, while Hamas accused Israel on Telegram of a “grave violation” of humanitarian law. Contacted by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Israel says Hamas uses hospitals and other civilian infrastructure for military purposes, an accusation the militant group denies.
Israel’s ally the United States has intensified calls for the protection of Gaza’s civilians, with Vice-President Kamala Harris saying that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed”.
A White House official said on Sunday the United States believes Israel is “making an effort” to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza.
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said those killed “would still be alive” had Hamas not carried out the October 7 attacks.
Israel said on Monday it was not seeking to force Palestinian civilians to permanently leave their homes, even as it acknowledged conditions in Gaza were “tough”.
We are not trying to displace anyone, we are not trying to move anybody from anywhere permanently
Any suggestion of Palestinian dispersal is highly contentious in the Arab world as the war that led to Israel’s creation 75 years ago gave rise to the exodus or forced displacement of 760,000 Palestinians.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Monday: “We are not trying to displace anyone, we are not trying to move anybody from anywhere permanently.
“We have asked civilians to evacuate the battlefield and we have provided a designated humanitarian zone inside the Gaza Strip,” he said, referring to a tiny coastal area of the territory named Al-Mawasi.
With fears of a wider regional conflagration rising, a US destroyer shot down multiple drones over the Red Sea while assisting commercial ships on Sunday, according to the US Central Command.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels – who said they targeted two of the ships – launched a series of drones and missiles towards Israel in recent weeks and seized a cargo vessel last month.