Israel’s military has declared Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” as it intensifies preparations for a full-scale assault, announcing Friday that the body of one hostage and the remains of another had been recovered in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed there will no longer be “tactical pauses” in Gaza City.
Those temporary halts in fighting were introduced a month ago in response to international outrage over famine and the deepening humanitarian crisis, allowing 10-hour windows for relief operations.
However, following the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of plans to seize and occupy Gaza City earlier in August, it was clarified that no humanitarian aid centers would be permitted inside the city. Civilians were instead expected to leave the area in search of food.
Heavy bombardments have already begun on the outskirts of the city, with strikes targeting neighborhoods surrounding the densely populated center.
According to the Director-General of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Dr. Munir al-Bursh, these attacks have pushed residents deeper into Gaza City.
“The population density in Gaza City has reached 60,000 people per one square kilometer,” al-Bursh told CNN.
In the north, Hamad Hospital reported on Friday that 11 people were killed and 100 injured when Israeli forces opened fire as crowds waited for humanitarian aid.
CNN crews recorded scenes in Sheikh Radwan as families fled amid relentless gunfire. A mother and her three young children were seen scrambling for cover behind a wall.
“We came out of horror, literal horror films,” one woman told CNN as she made her way toward a refugee camp.
“Shelling, mortars, rockets, gunfire, as you see,” said a child, Ibrahim Dumiati. “There are no words to describe the situation. Danger, people dying, shells. We have been displaced and are going to Nuseirat Camp.”
Another fleeing resident, Abu Mahmoud, said poverty leaves many trapped: “Where can those without shelter go? We don’t have money to move.”
The wounded and deceased were transported to Al-Shifa Hospital by ambulances operated by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.
Footage shared online showed the aftermath of a devastating strike in Jabalya, on the city’s northern edge.
“The Israeli occupation continues to target residential blocks through airstrikes, quadcopter attacks, and the detonation of explosive robots in neighborhoods,” said Faris Afaneh, head of ambulance and emergency services in northern Gaza.
He called the campaign “massive and unprecedented,” saying residents were forced to evacuate as strikes multiplied.
On Thursday, residents said Israeli drones dropped leaflets warning, “To everyone in Gaza City and Jabalya area, as you were previously warned, the Israeli army is expanding its operations towards the West. For your safety, evacuate immediately south from Wadi Gaza.”
At what was once a bustling market, Ismail Zaida described the destruction: “This market which had thousands of people, thousands of people!, has now become empty streets. The quadcopters are flying over the area, telling people to leave, don’t subject yourself to destruction.”
Others have chosen to remain despite the dangers.
“About an hour ago, quadcopters came in and threw no less than 50 bombs at the squares,” Abu Salah recounted, followed by artillery fire. “Last night was a very difficult night.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the death toll in Gaza has climbed to 63,025, with 159,490 more injured since the conflict began. Hospitals, it added, are still recording daily deaths from malnutrition and starvation, many of them children.
Hostages’ remains recovered
The IDF also announced the recovery of the body of Ilan Weiss, 56, from Kibbutz Be’eri, and the remains of another hostage yet to be identified.
Weiss’ wife and daughter, Shiri and Noga, were kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack but released in the November ceasefire.
Initially thought to still be alive, Kibbutz Be’eri later confirmed in January 2024 that Weiss had been killed during the attack and his body taken into Gaza. The IDF did not disclose where the recovery was made.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum acknowledged the pain of the discovery but said it also ended an agonizing ordeal, the recovery “provides some comfort to the family after 692 days of waiting in the nightmare of uncertainty.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the return of Weiss’s body as “a moment of deep sorrow, but also of closure.” Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed, “We won’t rest or be quiet until they all come back home.”
Following Friday’s development, the number of hostages still held in Gaza stands at 48, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
