GAZA CITY: Tens of thousands of Palestinians are streaming out of Gaza City as Israel’s ground push into the enclave’s north entered its second day on Wednesday, marked by intense overnight shelling and mounting civilian casualties.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said al-Rantisi children’s hospital, the strip’s only specialised facility treating children who are cancer and kidney patients, was struck in three separate Israeli attacks.
While no injuries were immediately reported, the bombardment damaged vital infrastructure, including air conditioning systems, solar panels and water tanks, and forced roughly half of the patients and their families to evacuate.
Hospitals across northern Gaza reported at least 35 deaths in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, while the Israeli military confirmed more than 150 strikes on Gaza City in just two days to support advancing ground forces.
Israel claims that the operation aims to destroy Hamas’s last major base and secure the release of hostages, ignoring growing international condemnation.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has now verified that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, while more than 20 major aid organisations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, warning that the “inhumanity of the situation is unconscionable.” The calls for intervention come ahead of next week’s UN General Assembly in New York.
Palestinians escaping the bombardment continue to head south in convoys of donkey carts, overloaded trucks, rickshaws and on foot. Many travel along the coastal road to al-Mawasi, a so-called “humanitarian zone” designated by Israel. On Wednesday, the army said it would also open the central Salah al-Din road for 48 hours, offering a second route south.
But soaring transport and shelter costs are making flight impossible for many. Lina al-Maghrebi, a mother of three from Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, told the BBC she sold her jewellery to pay for the journey. “It took us ten hours to reach Khan Younis, and we paid 3,500 shekels for the ride,” she said. “The line of cars and trucks seemed endless.”
Humanitarian groups warn the designated safe areas cannot accommodate the influx. Some displaced families who made the trip said they found no space to pitch their tents and returned north.
According to the Israeli army, about 350,000 people have left Gaza City since the offensive began, though UN estimates put the figure at 190,000. At least 650,000 remain in the city.
Israeli media reported that the military is employing remotely controlled vehicles loaded with explosives to target Hamas positions. Meanwhile, families of Israeli hostages demonstrated outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, voicing fears that the escalating assault could cost their loved ones’ lives.
Religious and political leaders worldwide also raised alarms. Pope Leo XIV condemned the suffering of Palestinians, saying they were “forced yet again to leave their land,” and renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire. In Europe, the European Commission proposed sanctions against Israel, including suspending trade privileges and targeting extremist ministers and settlers. Israel has warned the EU against the measures, which currently lack full support among member states.
The EU move followed a UN Commission of Inquiry report accusing Israel of genocide, citing deliberate attacks on children, sexual violence by security forces, and systematic destruction of Gaza’s cultural, educational and religious institutions. Israel rejected the findings as “false and distorted.”
Israel’s campaign in Gaza began on October 7, 2023. Since then, at least 64,964 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. With famine already declared in Gaza City, the UN has warned that any further escalation risks plunging civilians into “even deeper catastrophe.”
