Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, a day after Israel said it would seize large areas of Gaza and establish a new security corridor across the territory as it expands an offensive and ramps up pressure on Hamas.
Hospital officials said at least 54 people were killed in the strikes. The figures could not be verified, and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
Heavy strikes were reported in southern Khan Younis and Gaza City in the north.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment on the strikes but issued an evacuation warning for Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood and nearby areas on Thursday ahead of a planned military offensive.
In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map of the area to be evacuated, saying that the military will soon operate “with great force” there to “destroy terror infrastructure.”
Civilians were called to head for shelters in western Gaza City.
Throughout the war, the IDF has issued evacuation orders for various areas, advising residents to head for safe zones in an effort to avoid being caught up in the fighting. Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields by embedding its fighters among the civilian population.
The IDF has significantly stepped up its renewed offensive, deploying another division to the southern Gaza Strip and carrying out heavy airstrikes as Israel seeks to pile pressure on Hamas to free the hostages it abducted during its October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel that triggered the war.
A recent ceasefire that saw the release of dozens of hostages collapsed amid mutual accusations of violations and Israel, last month, resumed bombing the Palestinian enclave, aiming to push Hamas to agree to release more hostages in return for a lull.
The IDF had issued previous evacuation orders for Shejaiya earlier in the war. In June last year, troops raided a UNRWA facility in the area that the army said was used by Hamas as a command center.
Separately, the military said Thursday it is further investigating claims made by the UN that 15 medics allegedly killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah last week were buried in a mass grave.
In a post on X, the IDF’s international media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the incident “in which IDF forces opened fire targeting terrorists advancing in ambulances” on March 23 has been handed over to the military’s high-level General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism for investigation.
The mechanism is an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war.
“The IDF places utmost importance on maintaining communication with international organizations operating in Gaza and engages with them regularly,” Shoshani added.
On Monday, the IDF said that it had targeted and killed a Hamas military operative who was with the group, which had been advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals.
The IDF did not address the accusations that the dead had been buried under a large mound, apparently by an Israeli military bulldozer.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel was establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of the Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu’s announcement came after the defense minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones, apparently referring to an existing buffer zone along Gaza’s entire perimeter. He called on Gaza residents to “expel Hamas and return all the hostages,” saying “this is the only way to end the war.”
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.
There have been recent rare public demonstrations against Hamas, some with the participation of thousands, calling for an end to the war, the release of the hostages, and removing the terror group from control of Gaza. Hamas on Wednesday vowed to crack down on dissent.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.