Thousands displaced as Israel pummels north Gaza

Explosions, air strikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza yesterday, the third day of an Israeli military operation that has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the UN called “unbearable” living conditions in the territory.

An AFP correspondent reported ongoing explosions from the Shujaiya area near Gaza City, with a resident saying bodies were visible on the streets.

Israel’s military yesterday said its operations were continuing in Shujaiya where fighting “above and below the ground” left a “large number” of Hamas fighters dead.

• Israeli forces continue pounding Shujaiya area
• Death toll in enclave rises to 37,834

A resurgence of fighting in the area comes months after Israel had declared the command structure of Hamas dismantled in northern Gaza.

Last Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “intense phase” of the offensive was winding down after almost nine months, but experts see a potentially prolonged next phase.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 37,834 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. It reported at least 69 deaths over the previous 48 hours.

Mohammed Harara, 30, said he and his family, young and old, felt as though they would become part of that toll.

He said they fled from their home in Shujaiya with nothing, “due to the bombardment by Israeli planes, tanks and drones” that they barely survived.

“We couldn’t carry anything from the house. We left the food, flour, canned goods, mattresses, and blankets,” Harara said.

Israel’s military on Friday said it was conducting “targeted raids” backed by air strikes against Hamas in the Shujaiya area.

The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA estimated that “about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced” from the area this week.

AFPTV images yesterday showed men moving belongings on a donkey cart. Some people were pushed in wheelchairs. Children walked with backpacks past piles of dusty debris.

“I saw a tank in front of the Shuhada mosque firing” at targets, said Abdelkareem al-Mamluk. “There were martyrs in the street.”

Elsewhere in the coastal territory, the civil defence agency yesterday said four bodies were pulled from an apartment after an Israeli strike in the central region.

Further south, in the Rafah area, witnesses reported dead and wounded after a new incursion by Israeli troops.