Death toll in Gaza exceeds 65,000 as Israeli troops push on

Israeli army says it has attacked more than 150 sites in offensive using tactics human rights group says were used by ISIS

A wounded Palestinianis is taken to Nasser Hospital after Israeli troops opened fire on civilians gathered for aid in Rafah. Getty images

Israel's war in Gaza has now killed more than 65,000 people, the strip's health authorities said on Wednesday, as a human rights group said the Israeli army was employing tactics “like ISIS” to clear the enclave of its civilian population.

Dozens were killed on Wednesday as Israeli troops pushed on with a campaign to seize Gaza city. The Israeli army said it has attacked more than 150 sites in the city since a ground offensive began on Tuesday.

In one incident, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported a "massacre" of civilians near Gaza city's Al Shifa hospital, in which 13 people were reportedly killed amid "shock and panic".

Troops are pushing to capture the city after weeks of heavy Israeli bombardment. Facing growing isolation abroad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Israel to pursue arms manufacturing that can “withstand international constraints”.

A human rights group said Israel blew up 10 booby-trapped armoured vehicles in Gaza city early on Wednesday, in an apparent tactic to destroy neighbourhoods. Israeli troops have ordered Palestinians to leave their homes and head south.

“This represents a more extreme and brutal adaptation of tactics once used by ISIS in Syria and Iraq,” the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said.

Israeli tanks at the border fence with Gaza. AFP

Among the casualties in Gaza city on Wednesday were six people killed in attacks on Al Shati camp, and two who died in a strike near Al Ahli Arab Hospital, according to Wafa.

A man, his pregnant wife and their daughter were killed in a bombing on Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

Gaza's Health Ministry increased the overall death toll to 65,062 and 156,697 injured during Israel's war in the strip. It said four more people had died from starvation, with more than 150 dead from famine since the UN declared the crisis had reached that stage.

Israel said it had opened a “temporary transportation route” for Gaza city residents to leave by Salah Al Din Street, a north-to-south route through the middle of Gaza. It said the route would be open for 48 hours.

Residents have until now been leaving Gaza city by a coastal road beset by long queues and rip-off charges for people to transport their belongings. Many were reluctant to leave the city even as it faces daily bombardment.

In the space of two days, the Israeli air force and artillery corps “struck over 150 terror targets throughout Gaza city in support of the manoeuvring troops in the area”, the Israeli army said.

"If Hamas does not release the hostages and disarm, Gaza city will be destroyed and turned into a monument to the rapists and murderers of Hamas," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on X. A group of dissenting Israeli soldiers meanwhile accused the army of a "policy of ethnic cleansing".

Soldiers for the Hostages, a group of Israeli troops who say they can no longer fight out of conscience, condemned comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich describing the destruction of Gaza city as a "demolition phase" and part of an "urban renewal plan".

Israel is pushing on with an offensive in Gaza city despite warnings of the catastrophic humanitarian situation there. AFP

Pope Leo XIV offered solidarity to the population of Gaza, saying civilians had been “once again” forced from their land and were living in “unacceptable conditions”.

“I express my deep solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza who continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions, being forcibly displaced once again from their lands,” said the pontiff after his general audience.

Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, hit out at Israel over its wars on several fronts in the region and the human suffering caused.

He said the last “two bloody years” have led to a “geopolitical earthquake” that continues to unfold, adding that a unified Arab project “remains absent”.

“The Israeli wars, militia adventures, and regional crises have redrawn the political map over two bloody years,” Dr Gargash wrote on social media. “Human suffering and the repercussions of the geopolitical earthquake continue to unfold."