Israel army says it will continue to use ‘unprecedented force’ in Gaza City
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A boy sitting on top of a pile of belongings as displaced Palestinians get ready to flee Gaza City on Sept 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM – The Israeli military warned on Sept 19 it will operate with “unprecedented force” in Gaza City, telling residents to flee southwards as it presses its ground offensive on the territory’s largest urban centre.
Israel has pummelled Gaza City with strikes and tank fire in its bid to seize it, nearly two years into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory and left the Gaza City area gripped by a UN-declared famine
The assault comes ahead of a planned move by several Western countries, including France and Britain, to recognise a Palestinian state
The Israeli military launched its major ground offensive on Sept 16 and has for days been telling residents to head south, but many Palestinians say the journey is prohibitively expensive and they do not know where to go.
The UN estimated at the end of August that about a million people were living in Gaza City and its surroundings.
The Israeli military on Sept 19 said it estimated 480,000 of them have fled since late August.
On Sept 19, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee announced the closure of a temporary evacuation route opened 48 hours earlier, saying the only way south was via the Al-Rashid coastal road.
“From this moment, Salah al-Din Road is closed for southbound travel,” he said in a post on X addressing residents of the city, referring to the main north-south artery through the Gaza Strip.
Israel had on Sept 17 announced a “temporary” new route for residents to flee along the road, saying it would remain open for just 48 hours from midday.
“The Israel Defence Forces will continue to operate with unprecedented force against Hamas and other terrorist organisations,” Colonel Adraee said.
“Take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands of city residents who have moved south to the humanitarian area.”
The Israeli military has urged Palestinians to head to a “humanitarian area” in the southern coastal area of Al-Mawasi, where it says aid, medical care and humanitarian infrastructure will be provided.
Israel first declared the area a safe zone early in the war, but has carried out repeated strikes on it since then, saying it is targeting Hamas.
‘Too weak to walk’
Ms Nivin Ahmed, 50, fled south from Gaza City to the central city of Deir el-Balah on Sept 19, walking with seven family members.
“We walked more than 15km, we were crawling from exhaustion,” she said.
“My youngest son cried from fatigue. We took turns dragging a small cart with some of our belongings.”
Ms Mona Abdel Karim, 36, said she had been unable to secure transport south and had been sleeping with her family on Al-Rashid street for two nights, waiting for a driver.
“I feel like I’m about to explode. We can’t walk on foot – my husband’s parents are elderly and sick, and the children are too weak to walk,” she said.
AFP footage from Al-Rashid street on Sept 18 showed long lines of Palestinians heading south on foot or in vehicles piled high with meagre belongings.
Israeli fire killed at least 22 people across the territory on Sept 19, including 11 in Gaza City, according to a tally of figures given by Gaza hospitals contacted by AFP.
In a statement, the Israeli military said its troops continued to “expand their activity” in Gaza City, adding it had “dismantled more than 20 military infrastructure sites” over the past day.
‘Relentless shelling’
In western Gaza City on Sept 19, displaced Palestinian Sami Baroud described “relentless and intense shelling”.
“Our life has become nothing but explosions and danger,” the 35-year-old said by telephone.
“We have lost everything, our lives, our future, our sense of safety. How can I evacuate when I can’t even afford transportation?“
Ms Umm Mohammed Al-Hattab, 49, also said her family had nowhere to go and could not afford the cost of moving.
“My seven children and I are still living in tents in western Gaza City after (Israel) bombed our home,” she said. “The bombing hasn’t stopped, and at any moment, we expect a missile to fall on us. My children are terrified, and I don’t know what to do,” she said.
The US-backed offensive on Gaza City came as a UN probe accused Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials had incited the crime.
Israel rejected the findings and slammed the probe as “distorted and false”.
The US on Sept 18 again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza
Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,141 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s Health Ministry that the UN considers reliable. AFP
