The Palestinian Civil Defence has reported that Israeli forces have completely destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City since the start of its invasion on August 6.
The agency stated that ongoing shelling and blocked access routes are preventing many rescue and aid operations in the area, trapping hundreds under the rubble.
“There are grave concerns about the continued incursion of Israeli forces into Gaza City, at a time when field crews lack the capacity to deal with the intensity of the ongoing Israeli attacks,” the Civil Defence said.
The situation in Gaza City is dire, with emergency workers receiving numerous reports of missing people but unable to respond due to the intensity of the attacks.
Hospitals are overwhelmed by the toll of the attacks, and the Civil Defence has warned that there is no safe area in the Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks have been rolling into the Sabra neighbourhood, forcing close to 1 million Palestinians to move southwards.
The Civil Defence’s assertion appears to confirm fears that Israel is planning to fully demolish Gaza City, a campaign that rights advocates say could be aimed at removing all Palestinians from Gaza.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening, with at least 51 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, including 27 in Gaza City and 24 aid seekers.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that eight more people died of Israeli-induced hunger, raising deaths from malnutrition to 289 people, including 115 children, since the war began.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said that famine is the “last calamity” hitting Gaza, where people are experiencing “hell in all shapes”. “‘Never Again’ has deliberately become ‘again’. This will haunt us. Denial is the most obscene expression of dehumanisation,” Lazzarini wrote on X.
Gaza’s Ministry of Interior warned against Israeli plans to forcibly displace residents from Gaza City and the northern governorates, urging people not to leave their homes despite heavy bombardment.
The ministry called on residents to remain in their communities or move only to nearby areas rather than relocate to the south. “We urge citizens and displaced persons residing in Gaza City not to respond to the occupation’s threats and terrorism, and to refuse to be displaced and move to the remaining areas of the central and Khan Younis governorates,” it said.
The situation in Gaza has sparked international concern, with leading rights groups and UN experts accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Hind Khoudary reported from Deir el-Balah that Palestinians are fleeing areas in Gaza City under intensive Israeli air strikes and attacks by quadcopters.
“We met a couple of these families, and they said that it was [nearly] impossible for them to stay alive as they were fleeing and quadcopters were opening fire on whatever was moving in that area,” Khoudary said.