Gaza City [Gaza], September 11: Israeli strikes killed at least 34 people in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including 26 in Gaza City alone, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Israel has said it plans to take full control of the strip's largest city, where around 1 million people - roughly half of the territory's population - were still believed to be sheltering. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that about 100,000 Palestinians had so far left the city. Aid groups warn the offensive will worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.
The Israeli military said it struck a high-rise building in Gaza City that was being used by Hamas. Residents had been warned beforehand, according to the army. The claims cannot be independently verified.
For the first time on Tuesday, Israel's military called on all Gaza City residents to evacuate. Troops have sent voice and text messages and dropped leaflets urging civilians to leave, warning: "Staying in this area is very dangerous." Israel, which has been waging a war against Hamas for nearly two years, says it aims to root out militant fighters holed up in the city.
Since Israel's appeal, witnesses said thousands of families have fled, some on foot, toward Al-Mawasi in the south-west of the territory, which Israel has designated as a "humanitarian zone." The area has nonetheless been hit in previous Israeli strikes.
Among those leaving was 42-year-old Mohammed al-Attar, who said he could no longer risk his children's lives. Pulling blankets and clothes on a small cart, he told DPA: "I have no choice." He said leaving was dangerous, but better than risking the loss of his children.
Others have decided to stay. "The south is bombed just like the north," said 36-year-old Amina Abu Jmisa, who lives in Gaza City's Rimal district.
"This is where my children's memories are," said the 36-year-old of the family home her husband had built.
"If I have to give all of this up, who will I be then?" Witnesses said many Palestinians fear losing their homes permanently, while elderly residents cannot make the journey south without assistance.
The prospect of mass displacement also revives memories of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the 1967 Six-Day War, when many Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes.
The United Nations and humanitarian organizations on Wednesday criticized Israel's call for Palestinians to leave Gaza City.
Israel has not taken the necessary steps to ensure safety in the designated humanitarian zone, they said. Supplies are already insufficient for those sheltering in the area, they warned, let alone for additional arrivals from Gaza City, located in the north.
Source: Qatar Tribune
