Israel carried out strikes on Gaza City overnight and into Thursday while ground forces were battling Hamas militants in dense urban neighborhoods where thousands have fled in recent days.
Israel was battling ground forces near Gaza's largest hospital, Shifa, where thousands of people are hiding with patients, said the hospital's General Director, Mohammed Abu Selmia.
The Hospital's Director reported that Israeli troops were located approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from Shifa Hospital downtown. Israel has been vague about troop movements, but officials say Gaza's biggest city is the focal point of their effort to defeat Hamas after its deadly Oct. 7 assault inside Israel.
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Devastation To The City
More than two-thirds of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began, with many heeding Israeli orders to flee to the southern part of the besieged enclave.
But the conditions there are also dire. Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets all across the territory. New arrivals from the north are squeezing into homes with extended family, or into U.N. schools-turned-shelters where hundreds of thousands are taking refuge.
Despite this, the exodus from Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north has been speeding up in the past few days. According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 50,001 individuals fled south on Gaza's main highway during an hour-long daily window announced by the Israeli army.
The U.N. has reported that there are clashes and shelling near the road, and evacuees have reported seeing corpses nearby. The majority of individuals are traveling on foot with only what they are able to carry, with some carrying children or pushing elderly relatives in carts.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry, which has urged Palestinians to stay in their homes, has told media outlets not to circulate footage of people fleeing.
Since the Hamas attack, there has been a month of relentless bombardment in Gaza, which has resulted in the death of over 10,500 Palestinians, with two-thirds of those being women and minors, reported by the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled territory. Estimating more than 2,300 people have been buried by strikes, which in some instances have demolished entire city blocks.
The Interior Ministry under the control of Hamas has instructed Palestinians to stay in their homes and has prohibited media outlets from releasing footage of people fleeing.
Possible Ceasefire
While the world is concerned about Gaza's dire situation, mediators are getting closer to a deal that would allow for a three-day cease-fire and the release of about a dozen hostages, as reported by two Egyptian officials, a United Nations official, and a Western diplomat. The deal would permit a small amount of fuel to be introduced to the territorial area, which has been relying on generators for electricity, for the first time since the war began.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, mentioned that a temporary cease-fire would need to be followed by the release of hostages. According to Israel's statement, there are currently approximately 240 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli support for the war has been strengthened by their plight, even as international concerns grow.
On Thursday, Western and Arab officials convened in Paris to talk about ways to offer more assistance to civilians living in Gaza. A day later, the group of Seven wealthy democracies, which is made up of Israeli allies, called for an 'unimpeded' delivery of food, water, medicine, and fuel and for 'humanitarian pauses' in fighting.
The United States, Egypt, and Qatar, a Persian Gulf country that mediates with Hamas, are attempting to negotiate a potential cease-fire deal.
Meanwhile, according to Israeli officials, thousands of Palestinian militants have been killed, and Hamas is alleged by Israeli officials to be the cause of civilian deaths, accusing it of operating in residential areas and using Palestinian civilians as human shields. In its casualty reports, Gaza's Health Ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The war has caused more than 1,400 deaths in Israel, with most of them civilians killed by Hamas militants during their initial incursion. Israel says 32 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began.
Palestinian militants have continued to fire rockets into Israel, and some 250,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate from communities near Gaza and along the northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have traded fire repeatedly.
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