Has the Israeli army intensified attacks on Gaza City?

Gaza, Aug 31 (NationPress) The Israeli army has escalated its air and ground assaults on Gaza City this Sunday, with the aim of compelling residents to evacuate towards the central and southern regions of the Gaza Strip, as reported by Palestinian sources.

Local informants and eyewitnesses relayed to Xinhua news agency that the areas of Abu Iskandar and Jabalia in northern Gaza are experiencing a severe escalation, with Israeli forces conducting airstrikes and artillery bombardments targeting residential buildings.

According to the sources and witnesses, Israeli warplanes have struck multiple residential properties in the Jabalia al-Nazla area over the last 24 hours, as reported by Xinhua.

Additionally, tanks have indiscriminately fired machine guns in the areas they have penetrated.

Many Palestinian families find themselves trapped and unable to evacuate due to the relentless shelling, the lack of transportation options, and the absence of safe havens.

These attacks have also resulted in the disruption of essential services, including drinking water, as noted by sources and witnesses.

“The Israeli army is tightening the noose around the city and its inhabitants to drive us south,” stated Ismail Labad, a 32-year-old father of two from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, which is one of the largest in the city. Labad emphasized that the Israeli forces aim to reach the city center, which is “overcrowded and being bombarded by air, land, and sea continuously, but we will not abandon our homes because there is no vacant space in the south.”

The situation remains dire in the Zeitoun and Sabrah neighborhoods in the southern part of the city, which have also been subjected to ongoing aerial and artillery attacks, with Israeli forces gradually advancing towards their peripheries.

Mervat Salem, a mother of three from the Sabra neighborhood, expressed her despair, saying, “The bombing has not ceased, and we are losing our lives with every passing moment due to the intensity of the airstrikes.”

“The sound of explosions rattles our home as if an earthquake were striking the area,” Salem added.

No immediate response has been provided by the Israeli army regarding the situation.

On the same day, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) issued a brief statement noting that children in Gaza are unable to attend school and are once again being compelled to seek refuge.

“There is nowhere safe, not enough space, not even enough tents,” it stated, highlighting that the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza City is “pushing thousands into uncertainty.”

Since Israel ramped up its military campaign on March 18, at least 11,328 Palestinians have lost their lives and 48,215 have sustained injuries, raising the total death toll in Gaza since the war commenced in October 2023 to 63,459, with a cumulative total of 160,256 injuries, according to health authorities in Gaza on Sunday.