IDF says it already controls 40% of Gaza City ahead of main offensive

 

The Israeli military said on Thursday it was in control of some 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest urban center in the Palestinian territory, which it is preparing to conquer after nearly two years of devastating war.

 

Israel has intensified in recent days its strikes in the area of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, ahead of the planned offensive, despite mounting international pressure to halt the campaign.

 

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli strikes on Thursday killed more than 30 people in the city, out of at least 64 Palestinians killed across the Gaza Strip.

 

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CAIRO (Reuters) -The Israeli military said early on Saturday it was establishing a humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area of Gaza's Khan Younis, as it plans to expand military activities in the enclave.

 

The military said the area will include infrastructure such as field hospitals, water pipelines, desalination facilities, and food supplies. A spokesperson for the military called on Gaza residents to evacuate to the area.

 

Israeli military announces 'humanitarian area' in Gaza's Khan Younis

 

 

 

 

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive shelter in an UNRWA school, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

 

Israel's army called Saturday on Palestinians in Gaza City to move to a humanitarian area it designated in the south as it expanded its operations in preparation for seizing the famine-stricken city.

 

Parts of the city, home to nearly 1 million people, are already considered “red zones,” where evacuation orders have been issued ahead of expected heavy fighting.

 

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in X that the army declared Muwasi — a makeshift tent camp in southern Gaza Strip — a humanitarian area and urged everyone in the city, which it called a Hamas stronghold and specified as a combat zone, to leave. The army said they could travel in cars down a designated road without being searched.

 

Israel calls on famine-stricken Gaza City residents to move to safe zone as it expands operations

 

 

 

 

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