Israel presses on with Gaza City assault, at least 60 Palestinians killed

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that killed at least 60 Palestinians, according to Gazan health authorities.

The assault came as 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada, are scheduled to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual leaders’ gathering at the UN General Assembly next week.

Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground assault.

Its forces, which control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs, have been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western parts of the city.

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Most of Gaza City’s population is sheltering in those parts.

The military estimates it has demolished up to 20 Gaza City tower blocks over the past two weeks. It also believes, according to Israeli media, that more than 500,000 people have left the city since the start of September.

The Hamas group, which controls Gaza, disputes this, saying just under 300,000 have left and around 900,000 remain, including Israeli hostages.

On messaging site Telegram, Hamas’ military wing earlier released a montage-type image of Israeli hostages, warning that their lives were at risk due to Israel’s military operation in Gaza City.

Hamas also estimates that since August 11, Israel’s military has destroyed or damaged more than 1,800 residential buildings in Gaza City, and destroyed more than 13,000 tents housing displaced families.

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In almost two years of fighting, Israel’s offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gazan health authorities, spread famine, demolished most structures and displaced most of the population, in many cases multiple times.

Israel says the hunger crisis in Gaza has been exaggerated and that much of the blame lies with Hamas.

COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the enclave, said earlier that Hamas fired at UN teams on Saturday and prevented the opening of a new humanitarian route in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hamas categorically rejected the claims, saying criminal gangs granted protection by Israeli firepower and air cover are attacking aid trucks, looting and stealing.

The UN was not immediately available to comment.

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“We have been calling day and night (for) UN organizations to carry out their humanitarian and relief work,” a senior Hamas media official told Reuters.

The war began after Hamas led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

A total of 48 of the hostages remain in Gaza, and around 20 are thought to be alive.