A series of Israeli airstrikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza City overnight and into Saturday as the military intensified its offensive on the enclave’s largest urban center and urged remaining residents to evacuate, according to medical officials. Citing hospital sources , AP News reports that the dead included 12 children, the morgue at Shifa Hospital reported. Bodies from multiple locations across the city were brought there following the bombardments. Israel has stepped up strikes in recent days, targeting high-rise buildings that the military says are being used by Hamas for sur

A series of Israeli airstrikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza City overnight and into Saturday as the military intensified its offensive on the enclave’s largest urban center and urged remaining residents to evacuate, according to medical officials. Citing hospital sources

, AP News

reports that the dead included 12 children, the morgue at Shifa Hospital reported. Bodies from multiple locations across the city were brought there following the bombardments. Israel has stepped up strikes in recent days, targeting high-rise buildings that the military says are being used by Hamas for surveillance operations. On Saturday, the army confirmed it struck another tower in Gaza City that it said was serving the militant group. The operation forms part of Israel’s broader offensive aimed at seizing control of Gaza City, which it describes as Hamas’ last major stronghold. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in the city under conditions of deepening famine, aid groups say. One of the overnight strikes hit a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing a family of 10, including a mother and her three children, according to Gaza health officials. The Palestinian Football Association said Al-Helal Sporting Club player Mohammed Ramez Sultan was also killed in the strikes along with 14 members of his family. Images circulating from the scene showed explosions followed by plumes of smoke rising over the neighborhood. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported casualties.

Also Read: Israeli soldiers and their mothers push back on returning to Gaza

In a message posted on social media, the Israeli army on Saturday again urged residents of Gaza City to leave “immediately” and move south to what it has designated a humanitarian zone. Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said more than 250,000 people had already left Gaza City, out of an estimated 1 million residents living in northern Gaza. The United Nations gave a lower figure, estimating that around 100,000 people had left between mid-August and mid-September. The U.N. and humanitarian groups have warned that large-scale displacement will deepen the already dire humanitarian crisis, with shelters in southern Gaza overcrowded and families unable to afford transport or alternative housing. The U.N. said more than 86,000 tents and other temporary shelters remain blocked from entering Gaza pending clearance. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Saturday that seven people, including children, had died in the past 24 hours from causes linked to malnutrition. The ministry said this brought the total number of such deaths since the war began to 420, including 145 children. The latest bombardments came only days after Israel launched a strike in Qatar aimed at Hamas leaders, escalating its campaign against the group and raising concerns about the future of negotiations to end the war. Families of the hostages still held in Gaza have urged Israel to halt its offensive, fearing that further strikes will put their loved ones at risk. Israeli officials say 48 hostages remain in Gaza, around 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Current War Toll

The current conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. In response, Israel launched a sweeping military campaign in Gaza that has so far killed at least 64,803 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but has said that about half of the dead are women and children. Nearly 90% of Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents have been displaced, while large parts of its major cities have been reduced to rubble, according to U.N. assessments.  

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