Gaza City exodus 35 killed

Tel Aviv (dpa) — The exodus from Gaza City continued on Friday as Israel pressed its controversial ground offensive, as medics reported 35 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks.

Around 480,000 Palestinians have now fled Gaza City, the Israeli military said, up from 450,000 a day earlier.

Before Israel stepped up its operations to occupy the territory’s largest city, it housed about 1 million residents and displaced people.

According to medical sources in the Gaza Strip, at least 35 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in various parts of the territory since Friday morning.

More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began almost two years ago in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Israeli military said it had closed a temporary escape route to southern Gaza that had been open for several days, leaving only one road for those trying to head south.

Residents told dpa that many people were still fleeing Gaza City towards the south, while others were displaced within the city.

However, according to reports from the coastal strip, many of the Palestinians cannot afford to transport their few belongings, are exhausted or ill, and do not trust Israeli assurances that they are safe in the so-called humanitarian zones in the south.

The Israeli military said it had killed a senior member of a Hamas battalion and destroyed “observation posts” belonging to the Palestinian Islamist group.

In a separate incident on Thursday, gunmen hijacked four UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) trucks loaded with baby formula in Gaza City.

Israel’s agency for Palestinian affairs, COGAT, blamed Hamas, saying the trucks were seized directly from a UNICEF compound.

UNICEF said only that “armed individuals” held the drivers at gunpoint, seized the formula and later released both the drivers and the trucks.

The theft deprived at least 2,700 severely malnourished children of life-saving supplies, UNICEF said.

COGAT said the baby formula was meant for free distribution and accused Hamas of showing “no interest in the well-being of the people.”

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting aid – allegations Hamas denies. UN officials say Israel has not provided evidence to substantiate its claims, though some residents of famine-hit Gaza have acknowledged that Hamas members have been involved in looting.