Israeli troops preparing to occupy Gaza city have been fired on by armed groups, as their offensive left dozens more Palestinians dead across the strip.
The Israeli army is hunting explosives and dismantling what it says is “terrorist infrastructure” in Al Zeitoun. Residents say an air assault has flattened the neighbourhood, in what they fear is the first stage of Israel's plan to capture the city.
Several armed factions have claimed to have attacked Israeli troops in the area. Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said they fired a shell at a Merkava tank in Al Zeitoun.
On Friday, Al Nasser Salah Al Din Brigades – a coalition of militants who took part in the October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023 – said they “bombed a gathering” of Israeli troops and vehicles in the area. Statements from the groups were carried by friendly media outlets.
The Israeli army said it came under fire from an anti-tank missile, with no injuries reported. “The troops swiftly located and eliminated the terrorists,” it said on Friday, without specifying when that incident took place. As part of their operations in Al Zeitoun, Israeli troops “struck and dismantled a booby-trapped structure that stored weapons”, the military said.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans last week to capture Gaza city as a first step towards taking control of the whole territory. The move has been widely condemned amid fears the dire conditions in the strip will worsen.
Gaza health officials raised the war's death toll to 61,827 on Friday, after 51 bodies were taken to hospitals in the previous 24 hours. They said one child died of malnutrition in the period.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa said six people were killed while waiting to receive aid. The UN human rights office said on Friday that at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a rise of several hundred since its last published figure in early August. Israel denies a campaign to kill civilians, saying the starvation and disarray at food banks are the fault of Hamas and UN aid workers.
“All of this could have been prevented easily if [aid agency] UNRWA and other humanitarian organisations were allowed to bring in the minimum every day, and that is 500 to 600 lorries of basics,” said UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma. “We're not asking for the moon here.”
Gaza's civil defence agency says Israeli forces have destroyed more than 300 homes in Al Zeitoun in three days. According to journalist Bilal Al Nabih, the Israeli army has attacked the area at least five times since the war escalated in March, but the current operation is by far the most destructive.
Israel's army chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said on Thursday that the military was “completing preparations” for the new offensive in Gaza. “The campaign will end when we have ensured our security and our future,” he said.
