Palestinians face dire choices as Israel expands offensive in Gaza city

Residents in Gaza City’s Nasser district, one of the few areas still relatively intact, were forced to decide on Thursday whether to remain or flee after Israeli forces dropped leaflets warning they would soon take control of the western neighborhood.

Israel has ordered hundreds of thousands of people to leave Gaza City as it intensifies its campaign against Hamas. But with limited space, food, and safety in the rest of the enclave, many families face impossible decisions.

“It’s been almost two years without rest, without stability, not even proper sleep,” said Abu Ahmed, a father preparing to leave with his family on a motorcycle-pulled truck stacked with belongings. “Our life is all about war. We move from one area to another. We can’t take it anymore.”

Fatal Search for Food

Israeli strikes across the strip on Thursday killed at least 18 people, according to health officials — 11 in Gaza City, five in Beach refugee camp, and two near Rafah while searching for food.

Leaflets dropped Wednesday revived fears in Nasser, where Israeli ground troops had previously operated at the start of the war in October 2023. Many expect tanks to roll in soon.

Over the past week, Israeli forces have advanced through Shejaia, Zeitoun, and Tuffah neighborhoods, briefly sending tanks into Sheikh Radwan, adjacent to Nasser. The military claims it now controls 40% of Gaza City.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army said it carried out 360 strikes across Gaza, targeting what it described as Hamas infrastructure, including sniper posts, missile sites, and command centers. It warned operations would intensify in the coming days to weaken Hamas ahead of the next stage of its offensive.

Families continue to flee targeted areas, heading west toward central Gaza City and the coast, or south toward other parts of the strip. But many remain trapped.

“We don’t have money to leave. We have no way to go south,” said Ahmed Al-Dayeh, mourning a friend killed in Thursday’s strikes.

Mounting Toll

The war, sparked by Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 taken hostage, has left Gaza devastated. Local health officials say Israel’s offensive has killed more than 64,000 people, mostly civilians, and triggered a severe hunger crisis.

In the past 24 hours alone, seven more Palestinians, including a child, have died of malnutrition, bringing the death toll from hunger to at least 411, among them 142 children.

Israel insists it allows hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza, though international agencies warn this falls far short of what is needed.

Evacuation Orders and Resistance

Around 200,000 Palestinians have already fled Gaza City in recent weeks, the Israeli army said Wednesday. On September 9, it ordered the immediate evacuation of roughly one million residents from the northern Gaza region to a designated “humanitarian zone” in the south.

The World Health Organization condemned the order. “WHO is appalled by the latest evacuation directive,” said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The zone lacks the space and services to support those already there, let alone new arrivals.” He added that nearly half of Gaza’s hospitals are in the city and vowed WHO staff would remain.

On September 10, families crammed vehicles, motorbikes, and donkey carts along Gaza City’s coastal road in a desperate bid to leave.

Among them was Amal Sobh, displaced from Beit Lahia with 30 relatives, including 13 orphans. “Our three-wheeled vehicle broke down, and we have no fuel,” she said. “One child has a burning fever, but I can’t afford medicine.”

Another resident, Umm Mohamed al-Boghdady, said her family lost everything in an Israeli strike. “The tents are gone, our clothes and belongings destroyed. We left with nothing but a basil plant.”

Gaza’s health ministry reported 72 new deaths from Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, raising the overall toll to 64,718.