Gaza City has come under intense bombardment for three consecutive days, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency, as Israeli forces prepare a major operation to seize control of the city. Spokesman Mahmud Bassal said residential areas in Zeitoun and Sabra had suffered “massive destruction to civilian homes,” with residents unable to retrieve the dead and injured under continued shelling.
International concern over the humanitarian situation deepened as the UK, EU, Australia, Canada, and Japan issued a joint statement warning that “famine is unfolding in front of our eyes” in Gaza. They called for “immediate, permanent and concrete steps” to allow more aid into the territory, and demanded an end to lethal force near aid sites and convoys — locations where the UN says more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly by Israeli forces. Israel denies famine exists in Gaza and has accused UN agencies of failing to collect and distribute aid from the border.
The World Health Organization appealed to Israel to allow stockpiling of essential medicines ahead of any ground offensive, warning of a “catastrophic” health crisis. WHO representative Rik Peeperkorn said the pace of aid entry was “way too low” and hospitals could not be resupplied in time.
On Monday, Israel’s war cabinet voted to take over Gaza City — a move condemned in an emergency UN Security Council meeting. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it was “at the beginning of a new state of combat,” but did not specify when troops would move in. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the goal is to dismantle Hamas’s last two strongholds in Gaza City and al-Mawasi, while also announcing a plan to increase humanitarian aid through safe corridors and air drops.
Residents described the bombardment as relentless. “With every strike, the ground shakes,” said Majed al-Hosary from Zeitoun. “There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped.” Another resident, Amr Salah, 25, likened the attacks to the start of a new war, with tanks and airstrikes hitting multiple neighborhoods.
The Hamas-run health ministry reported 100 deaths across Gaza in the past 24 hours, including 31 at aid sites, and five more from malnutrition. UN-backed experts and human rights groups, including Israeli NGO B’Tselem, have warned of an “unfolding genocide” in the territory. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Irish President Mary Robinson, visiting the Gaza border as part of “The Elders” group, accused Israel of causing famine and attempting to destroy Palestinian society — claims Israel strongly rejects.
Israel has faced renewed international condemnation after the IDF killed four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelancers in what it called a targeted strike on a Hamas cell leader. Media groups say Israel provided little evidence for its claims and accused it of trying to silence reporting from inside Gaza.
The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 61,599 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s response — figures the UN considers credible.
