Witnesses reported that the intense Israeli strikes destroyed a number of buildings, while the number of casualties resulting from the strikes was not immediately clear. The Israeli army also intensively targeted the southern and eastern areas of Gaza City with artillery and warplanes.
This escalation came just two days after the Israeli government approved a comprehensive military plan early Friday morning aimed at occupying the entire Gaza Strip, part of a genocidal war that has been ongoing for 22 months. This comes amid international and domestic warnings about the dangers of this plan, particularly for Israeli prisoners held in Gaza.
The bombing coincided with the Israeli military's aerial targeting of a journalists' tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of five Al Jazeera crew members in Gaza, including journalists Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqea. These developments also occurred hours after a phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, during which they discussed the Israeli occupation's plan for the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli cabinet approved a plan that begins with occupying Gaza City by displacing its population of approximately one million to the south. This will be followed by encircling the city and carrying out incursions into residential areas. A second phase will then include occupying the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, which have suffered extensive damage in the ongoing US-backed war since October 7, 2023.
The death toll of civilians is rising.
In a related development, 48 Palestinians were killed and others injured as the Israeli army targeted civilians in various parts of the Gaza Strip, including those waiting for humanitarian aid. An updated tally shows that 22 Palestinians have been killed in separate attacks since dawn on Sunday, in what medical sources describe as genocide.
In the northern Gaza Strip, five Palestinians were killed and others injured in an airstrike targeting a civilian gathering in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. Three Palestinians were also killed in an airstrike on an apartment building near Gaza Port, west of the city.
Israeli gunboats targeted fishing boats off the coast with shells and gunfire. A Palestinian was killed and others were injured by live ammunition when the Israeli army targeted people waiting for aid near the Netzarim axis south of Gaza City. Others were injured in a shelling that targeted a house in Jabalia al-Nazla, north of the Strip. Six Palestinians were also killed in two separate attacks, the first in the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
In the central Gaza Strip, several people were injured by drone strikes on the Al-Hadba area in Deir al-Balah, and Israeli gunboats fired toward the coast west of the Nuseirat refugee camp. The body of a Palestinian and several other wounded were transferred to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat following the targeting of aid workers near the Netzarim junction in the central Gaza Strip.
Four Palestinians were also killed in a drone strike targeting a civilian gathering near the Abu Sarar roundabout, west of Nuseirat. The army also shot dead a woman north of Nuseirat.
In central Gaza, a Palestinian was killed and three others were injured in an airstrike targeting a civilian gathering in the Al-Da'wa area, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp. Three Palestinians were also killed in an airstrike targeting a civilian gathering west of the camp. Al-Awda Hospital announced the deaths of three Palestinians and the injury of three others in an Israeli attack on a gathering near an aid distribution point in the central Gaza Strip.
In the southern Gaza Strip, the bodies of 11 martyrs arrived at Nasser Hospital after the Israeli army opened fire on people waiting for aid in the Morag area, south of Khan Yunis.
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International warnings about the impact of the occupation plan on children and public health
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) declared that the situation in the Gaza Strip is no longer an imminent hunger crisis, but rather a full-blown famine, in a speech delivered by Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the OCHA office in Geneva, to the UN Security Council.
He said that the suffering endured by Palestinians over the past 22 months has been heartbreaking, and our humanity demands an immediate end to this catastrophe. He added that Israel's decision to occupy the entire Gaza Strip represents a dangerous escalation in the conflict, causing indescribable suffering.
He stressed that the current situation is no longer merely an imminent food crisis but rather a full-blown famine, calling on Israel to halt arbitrary arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.
Rajasingham also warned that the occupation plan approved by the Israeli cabinet includes displacing the residents of Gaza City to the south, encircling the city, and launching incursions into residential neighborhoods, expecting it to lead to a widespread humanitarian disaster. He pointed out that developments in the West Bank are further exacerbating the existing humanitarian situation, stressing the need for the international community to take action to end this inhumanity, protect civilians, and meet their basic needs in accordance with international law. He called for the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinians, the release of Palestinians arbitrarily detained, and the expediting of humanitarian relief operations.
For his part, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Miroslav Jenča, explained that Hebrew media reports indicate that the Israeli government expects all civilians to be displaced from Gaza City by October 7, 2025, affecting approximately 800,000 people, many of whom have already been displaced.
Yantsha indicated that the occupation forces will besiege the city for three months, followed by months of control over the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, with the goal of clearing the area of armed groups. He warned that implementing this plan would lead to a massive humanitarian catastrophe with forced displacement, killing, and further destruction, exacerbating the suffering of the population.
Yantsa emphasized that the right to life, liberty, and security for all must be respected, and that Palestinians must be able to return to their homes. He emphasized that the only solution to end the suffering in Gaza is a complete, immediate, and permanent ceasefire, called for the immediate release of all hostages, and demanded that Israel abide by international humanitarian law and allow the rapid, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale.
He stressed that there would be no sustainable solution without ending the illegal Israeli occupation and achieving a two-state solution in which Gaza would be an integral part of an independent Palestinian state.
In the same context, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that Israel's plan to expand its military operations and occupy the entire Gaza Strip is deeply worrying, especially in light of the deteriorating humanitarian and health situation there.
Ghebreyesus said on his Twitter account that "further military escalation will put more children at risk from malnutrition and lack of healthcare," reiterating his call for "immediate, unrestricted, and widespread access to food and health assistance" to the besieged enclave.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The Israeli genocide left 61,258 Palestinians dead, 152,045 injured, and more than 9,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
