Israel’s defence minister warns that Gaza Metropolis will probably be destroyed until Hamas yields to Israel’s phrases for ending the struggle.
At the least 52 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli assaults on Gaza, medical sources advised Al Jazeera, together with 36 killed in Gaza Metropolis the place Israel was escalating assaults within the lead-up to a broader deliberate offensive.
An Israeli air strike hit a faculty in Sheikh Radwan, a Gaza Metropolis neighbourhood the place tens of Palestinians had been looking for shelter in makeshift tents within the schoolyard. At the least 12 civilians had been killed within the assault, Gaza’s Ministry of Well being mentioned on Friday.
Footage circulating on social media and verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking company Sanad reveals an Israeli quadcopter hovering over a constructing in Sheikh Radwan as neighbours watch anxiously, earlier than it drops an explosive on its goal. The video then cuts to footage of smoke rising from the focused constructing.
One other particular person was killed by Israeli forces within the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza Metropolis, a medical supply at al-Ahli Hospital advised Al Jazeera.
Earlier, Israel’s defence minister warned that Gaza’s largest metropolis could be destroyed until Hamas yielded to Israel’s phrases for ending the struggle.
“The gates of hell will quickly open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza – till they comply with Israel’s situations for ending the struggle,” Israel Katz wrote in a publish on X.
Katz restated Israel’s ceasefire calls for, which embody the discharge of all captives and Hamas’s full disarmament. Hamas has mentioned it could launch captives in alternate for ending the struggle, however rejects disarmament with out the creation of a Palestinian state.
In response to the most recent ceasefire proposal, accepted by Hamas and brokered by Qatar and Egypt, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday mentioned he had instructed officers “to start rapid negotiations” to launch remaining captives and finish the struggle.
But Netanyahu additionally confirmed that he would authorise the army to mount a serious operation to grab Gaza Metropolis, which might begin inside days.
Whereas many Israelis concern an assault might doom about 20 captives deemed to be alive, Netanyahu maintains the offensive is the surest method to free captives and obtain the struggle goal of destroying Hamas.
‘Insufferable grief and ache’
Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum mentioned that whereas Gaza Metropolis was being pounded particularly laborious, Israeli assaults had been persevering with relentlessly throughout the Gaza Strip.
“It was one other lethal evening in Gaza, and this morning is marked by grief and insufferable ache, clearly written on the faces of victims’ kin and emergency responders who spent the evening dashing to calls throughout the Strip,” Abu Azzoum mentioned, reporting from the central metropolis of Deir el-Balah.
“For Palestinians on the bottom, these army actions ship a transparent sign that regardless of the place they transfer, no nook of Gaza is spared from any potential Israeli assault.”
An Israeli drone strike on a makeshift tent within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis killed one lady and 4 kids, sources on the Nasser Medical Complicated mentioned.
One other Palestinian was killed and others had been injured after the Israeli military struck the Jabalia al-Balad space of northern Gaza, in keeping with sources at al-Shifa Hospital.
At the least 52 folks had been killed since daybreak in Israeli assaults throughout on Friday, medical sources advised Al Jazeera.
Amongst these killed had been 5 individuals who had been looking for support, the sources mentioned. One Palestinian support seeker was killed and others had been injured in an Israeli capturing close to the Netzarim Hall in central Gaza, in keeping with medical sources on the northern Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital.
Since Could 27, when Israel launched the brand new support distribution mechanism run by the controversial United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Basis (GHF), the Well being Ministry estimates not less than 2,036 support seekers have been killed.