Israel bombs Gaza city and advances plans to forcibly displace Palestinians

The National

a day ago

Israeli forces bombed the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza city as the military advanced plans to forcibly displace Palestinians to concentration zones in the south of the Strip, despite massive protests in Israel against the latest war plans.
At least seven Palestinians were killed on Sunday in Israeli strikes on the courtyard of Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza city.
The Israeli army announced late on Saturday that it was preparing to move Palestinians ahead of the planned military offensive to capture Gaza city where more than a million people are sheltering. The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said the supply of tents to the territory would resume on Sunday.
Hamas slammed the move, saying it was part of a "brutal assault to occupy Gaza city."
The Israeli plan to expand its war on the enclave has drawn widespread criticism, with the UN calling it a "dangerous escalation" that risks worsening "already catastrophic consequences" for Palestinians in Gaza, as well as Israeli captives held by Hamas.
Families of hostages and bereaved Israelis launched a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest the government's decision to expand the war rather than strike a ceasefire deal.
The protests were planned throughout the day at 400 different locations, with endorsements from thousands of businesses. About a million people were expected to gather in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Major roads were closed in central Israel, while some relatives said they would set up a tent encampment near the border with Gaza.
The Israeli government last week approved plans for the military, which currently controls about 75 per cent of Gaza, to launch an assault on Gaza city
In recent days, Gaza city residents have described more frequent air strikes, including in Al Zeitoun neighbourhood. The enclave's civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said conditions there were rapidly deteriorating, with residents having little to no access to food and water.
The war began with an attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza, led by the Islamist group Hamas, on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed in the raids on southern Israel, and about 250 others taken back to Gaza as hostages.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and is demanding that the group disarm and hand over about 50 hostages still in captivity, of whom 20 are believed to be still alive, in exchange for a ceasefire.
Israel insists that Hamas have no role in the postwar governance of Gaza, while also refusing to allow it to be administered by the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority based in the occupied West Bank. Far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government are calling for the territory to be taken over by Israel, 20 years after Israel pulled out.