On Wednesday, as international negotiations to establish a ceasefire and a deal for the release of hostages got underway, Israel’s military launched heavy airstrikes into central Gaza.
Since Israel’s annual “flag march” has in the past incited violence between Jews and Arabs, tensions in occupied east Jerusalem have been high as thousands of police monitor the event.
Following Hamas’s October 7 strike on southern Israel, the worst Gaza war ever broke out, with Palestinian officials claiming more deaths and jets striking targets all night long.
Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, saw increased urban fighting and bombardment, while fighting continued in the central areas. The eastern part of Deir al-Balah and Bureij were the sites of focused operational operations, according to the army.
Witnesses and Palestinian sources reported that two individuals were killed near Deir al-Balah and eleven persons near the Al-Maghazi camp during the bombing of central Gaza.
Families hurried children and injured people to hospitals, where people were packing wheelchairs and pickup trucks with their things in preparation for their escape.
Following “heavy Israeli strikes” in central Gaza on Tuesday, at least 70 people have died and over 300 injured, the majority of them women and children, according to the humanitarian organization Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF).
Karin Huster, an MSF medical adviser in Gaza, described the situation as “overwhelming”.
“There are people lying everywhere on the floor, outside… bodies were being brought in plastic bags,” she said on X.
