Israeli Forces Push Deeper Into Gaza City; Death Toll Tops 65,000/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Israeli forces pressed deeper into Gaza City on Wednesday as the Palestinian death toll climbed past 65,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Strikes destroyed high-rises, severed phone and internet links, and forced new waves of civilians to flee. Aid groups and Qatar condemned the offensive as famine grips the enclave.
Gaza City Offensive Quick Looks
- Gaza death toll surpasses 65,000, with 165,000+ wounded.
- Israeli forces hit Gaza City with 150+ strikes.
- Phone and internet lines cut, isolating residents.
- Hospitals struck, forcing evacuations of children and patients.
- Israel opens temporary evacuation corridor south of Gaza City.
- Aid groups and UN experts accuse Israel of genocide.
- Qatar condemns offensive as extension of “war of genocide.”
- Israeli military aims to secure control of most of Gaza.
- Hamas fighters reduced but still using guerrilla tactics.
- War began after Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Deep Look
Death Toll Climbs as Israeli Forces Re-Enter Gaza City
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has surged beyond 65,000, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Wednesday, as Israeli forces expanded their ground assault into Gaza City. The escalating offensive has leveled neighborhoods, displaced tens of thousands more, and left much of the city without communications.
Israel’s military confirmed its air force and artillery launched more than 150 strikes in recent days ahead of the ground advance. The bombardments destroyed high-rise towers in crowded districts, where many Palestinians had sought refuge in tent camps. Israeli officials said the towers were being used by Hamas for surveillance and operational purposes.
Phone and internet lines were severed after strikes hit key network hubs, according to Palestinian regulators, leaving residents unable to call ambulances, coordinate evacuations, or relay news from inside the city.
Casualties Rise in Overnight Strikes
Hospital officials reported at least 16 people killed in overnight bombings, including women and children. The dead included a child and his mother in the Shati refugee camp and a pregnant woman in Nuseirat. A family of three — two parents and their child — perished when a strike obliterated their tent in the Muwasi coastal zone near Khan Younis.
The Gaza Health Ministry said multiple Israeli strikes also damaged Rantisi Hospital for children in Gaza City, shattering its roof and destroying water tanks. About half of the hospital’s 80 patients were forced to flee, though 40 remained — including four children in intensive care and eight premature infants — alongside 30 medical workers.
“This attack has once again shattered the illusion that hospitals or any place in Gaza are safe,” said Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Israel said it was reviewing reports of the hospital strikes, but reiterated its longstanding position that Hamas embeds military infrastructure within civilian areas.
Mass Exodus Continues
Palestinian civilians streamed southward, some walking through rubble-strewn streets, others loading cars and carts. The Israeli military announced it had opened a new evacuation corridor for two days to allow residents to flee.
Before the latest push, roughly 1 million Palestinians lived in Gaza City. The U.N. estimates at least 238,000 have fled in the past month alone. Israel believes about 350,000 have left since the offensive began, though hundreds of thousands remain trapped in the north.
Humanitarian Catastrophe Deepens
The Gaza Health Ministry reported 65,062 deaths and 165,697 wounded since the war erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel. That attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 hostages taken; 48 remain in captivity, fewer than half believed alive.
Israel’s campaign has displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population. U.N. officials and independent experts warn famine has taken hold in Gaza City, where food and clean water are scarce.
Aid agencies decry the destruction of medical facilities, schools, and shelters, saying no safe refuge remains.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza is not only an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, but what the U.N. Commission of Inquiry has now concluded is a genocide,” read a joint statement from more than 20 organizations, including Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
International Condemnation
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the offensive “in the strongest terms,” calling it an extension of “the war of genocide” against Palestinians. Qatar’s anger intensified after an Israeli strike last week killed five Hamas members along with a local security official.
The U.N. Commission of Inquiry’s genocide finding has added diplomatic pressure on Israel. Tel Aviv strongly rejects the charge, insisting its campaign is aimed solely at dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities.
Israel’s Military Goals
An Israeli military map suggested forces aim to capture all of Gaza except for a stretch of coastal territory by the end of the operation. Military officials estimate 2,000–3,000 Hamas fighters remain in Gaza City, operating from tunnels and staging guerrilla-style attacks.
Though Hamas has lost much of its organized fighting capacity, small units continue to plant explosives and ambush Israeli patrols before disappearing into the ruins.
“This time, the mission is full control of Gaza City,” said one Israeli military official, speaking anonymously under regulations. “We cannot allow Hamas to regroup here again.”
Wider Implications
Israel’s repeated incursions into Gaza City since the war began have displaced civilians multiple times over. Each return has left the city more devastated, while also raising doubts over whether Hamas can truly be eradicated through military means alone.
For Palestinians, the siege has brought death, displacement, and famine. For Israel, the campaign is framed as an existential fight against a militant group responsible for the deadliest assault in its history.
As communications remain severed and humanitarian agencies call for urgent international action, Gaza City has become both the symbolic and physical center of a war now approaching its third year — with no resolution in sight.
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