Gaza city residents tell of 'hellish' shelling attack as Israel prepares troops for major assault

At least 21,000 children in enclave have disabilities caused by war, UN committee says

Heavy shelling has hit Gaza city after the Israeli army began mobilising more forces for an assault to reoccupy the enclave’s largest urban area.

“It was very difficult, the shelling came with all kinds of weapons from quadcopters, tanks, warplanes, from everywhere. It was like hell,” resident Madleen Abu Saif, 29, told The National on Wednesday.

“We tried to stay away from the windows and the street, and we stayed close to the house door so that we could evacuate immediately if necessary.”

Hospital officials said at least 24 people were killed in strikes overnight into Wednesday and 113 on Tuesday, more than half of them in Gaza city.

Waed Abu Zaher, 32, who lives in the city's Sheikh Ridwan neighbourhood, said “burning bombs” were falling from quadcopters every night. “Last night one of the bombs fell right in front of our home’s door,” she said.

“We were inside and we couldn’t do anything, just waiting for our last moment to come. The shelling was everywhere. It was truly a horrible night. I didn’t think we would survive.”

Like many in Gaza city she feels conflicted over whether to flee again. “It is humiliating to flee again, to live in a tent again. We are trying to stay in our home, I don’t know for how long. But in any case, we are preparing ourselves for the last moment of fleeing.”

Israeli officials claim Gaza city remains a Hamas stronghold above a vast underground tunnel network, even after significant ground assaults earlier in the war.

The Israeli military has intensified air and ground assaults on the outskirts of the city, particularly in western neighbourhoods, forcing people to flee towards the coast, humanitarian groups said.

The Site Management Cluster said on Wednesday that many families were trapped by the prohibitive cost of moving, logistical hurdles and a lack of safe places. “Palestinians are also reluctant to move due to the fear of not being able to return or exhaustion from repeated displacement,” it added.

The twin threats of combat and famine are becoming more acute, Palestinians and aid workers say, with most families in Gaza city displaced multiple times during the 23-month war.

Israeli army personnel gather near military vehicles and heavy machinery along the border with Gaza. Reuters

Children pay price

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military commanders told reservists on Tuesday that the assault on Gaza city was entering what they hoped would be a “decisive stage” of the war.

Army chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir told reservists Israel was aiming for “decisive victory” in Gaza. “We are preparing for the continuation of the war. We are going to increase and enhance the strikes of our operation, and that is why we called you,” he said.

Campaign groups said hundreds of Israelis were ignoring call-ups in protest against the war. Israeli media said the call-up was the largest mobilisation of reservists since the war began, with 40,000 ready to report for duty. The military said last month that 60,000 reserve orders were being issued.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on Israel, more than 63,700 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 2,300 while seeking aid.

A wounded child from the Gaza Strip arrives for medical treatment at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Tuesday. EPA

At least 21,000 children have been disabled in the war in Gaza, a United Nations committee said on Wednesday. Around 40,500 children have suffered “war-related injuries” in the nearly two years since the conflict began, and more than half of them have been left disabled, according to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Reviewing the situation in the Palestinian territories, it said Israeli displacement orders during the army’s assault on Gaza were “often inaccessible” to people with hearing or visual impairments, “rendering [forced] evacuation impossible”.