Gaza Families in Danger as Israeli Attacks Intensify, UN Issues Urgent Warning

Israeli forces have stepped up their attacks on the outskirts of Gaza City, with residents reporting heavy strikes as the military prepares for a major ground offensive.

Hospitals say women and children were among more than 30 Palestinians killed on Wednesday, most in the city’s northern and western areas. The Israeli military’s chief of staff has vowed to keep striking Hamas until its fighters are defeated and all hostages are freed.

The UN and humanitarian groups warn that Israel’s intensified operations are causing a severe humanitarian crisis for displaced families in Gaza City, home to over one million people, where a famine was declared last month.

Meanwhile, protesters in Israel held a “day of disruption” to demand an immediate deal with Hamas that would end the war and secure the release of all 48 Israeli and foreign hostages, including 20 believed to be alive.

Hospital officials across Gaza reported at least 46 deaths since midnight. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City received the bodies of 21 victims, including five killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment in the Fisherman’s Port area.

Among the victims were the parents and two sisters of three-year-old Ibrahim al-Mabhuh, whose grandmother said he was the only survivor after being pulled from the rubble of their home.

Overnight, residents reported Israeli drones dropping incendiary bombs near a clinic in northern Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, where troops and tanks were advancing. Videos shared online showed ambulances on fire inside and near the clinic’s compound.

Witnesses also said Israeli forces dropped grenades on schools being used as shelters for displaced families, burned tents, and used explosives to destroy homes. “Sheikh Radwan is being turned upside down,” said Zakeya Sami, a 60-year-old mother of five. “They destroyed houses, burnt tents, and told people to leave.”

During a visit to Gaza on Wednesday, Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told troops that the military had entered the second phase of its operation, named “Gideon’s Chariots,” to achieve the war’s objectives.

Hamas condemned what it called “systematic destruction” by Israeli forces, saying it violates international law. UN agencies said the intensified attacks are causing “horrific humanitarian consequences” for people in displacement sites, many of whom were previously forced from northern Gaza.

They warned that many families cannot move south due to high costs, lack of transport, and nowhere safe to go. Since 14 August, more than 82,000 people have been newly displaced, with most moving to the overcrowded coast. Only one-third have reached southern Gaza as instructed by the Israeli military.

Israel says displaced people should go to the al-Mawasi area, promising medical care, food, and water. However, the UN reports the camps there are unsafe, overcrowded, and southern hospitals are overwhelmed. On Tuesday, five children were killed while queuing for water at a tent camp in al-Mawasi, reportedly by an Israeli drone strike.

Israeli officials said they had targeted a “key Hamas terrorist” in the area and were “aware of claims” of civilian casualties, which are under review.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to conquer all of Gaza after ceasefire talks broke down in July. Families of hostages fear the offensive puts their loved ones at greater risk and are urging the government to negotiate instead.

Regional mediators have proposed a 60-day truce in which 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages would be released. Netanyahu insists on a comprehensive deal freeing all hostages and disarming Hamas.

Protesters demanding an immediate deal set fires and damaged property in Jerusalem. Thirteen were arrested after climbing onto the National Library roof and displaying a banner reading: “You have abandoned and also killed.”

Some relatives of hostages spoke to the crowd near Netanyahu’s residence, including Ofir Braslavski, whose 21-year-old son Rom appears emaciated and injured in a recent video from Islamic Jihad captors. “My son is dying, starving, and tortured,” he said. “How can the government leave him there while it tries to conquer more territory?”

Former US President Donald Trump, who brokered the previous ceasefire and hostage release deal in January, urged Hamas on social media to “immediately” release all hostages.

Israel launched its current campaign in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 63,746 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, and 367 have died from malnutrition and starvation, including six in the past 24 hours.