Israel storms Gaza City neighborhood, orders Palestinians to go south

Israel stormed a neighborhood in Gaza City on Thursday, ordering Palestinians to move south as the tanks rolled in, in what it says are the final stages of an operation against Hamas militants there.

Residents of the Shejaia neighborhood in Gaza City said they were taken by surprise by the sound of tanks approaching and firing in the early afternoon, with drones also attacking after overnight bombing of the city, which Israel had combed early in the war.

“It sounded as if the war is restarting, a series of bombings that destroyed several houses in our area and shook the buildings,” Mohammad Jamal, 25, a resident of Gaza City, told Reuters via a chat app.

Later on Thursday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said the Israeli military strikes had killed at least seven people in Shejaia so far. More casualties are feared to be under the rubble where rescue teams cannot reach, it said.

Footage obtained by Reuters showed women, men and children carrying bags and food as they ran in the streets after the raid began. Some men carried injured children, some bleeding, in their arms as they fled.

“This is the (Israeli) occupation targeting us, as you can see. You can see the children, the targeting of children here,” said a man carrying a bleeding boy in his arms.

An Israeli military spokesperson said they had no comment on reports of casualties in Shejaia.