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Palestinian civilians are reportedly fleeing their homes in northern Gaza after an Israeli bombardment said to be as intense as those at the start of the war.
Much of the shelling has been focused on Beit Lahiya on the northern edge of Gaza, where the Israeli military had given evacuation orders to four neighbourhoods on Tuesday, warning they were in a “dangerous combat zone”.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee had said the military “will work with extreme force against terrorist infrastructure and subversive elements” in the region.
From Monday, Israel has reportedly intensified its attacks, focusing on areas, particularly in the north, from where it had previously withdrawn many of its troops, saying Hamas was no longer in control.
In the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes have killed 79 Palestinians and wounded 86 others, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Residents in northern Gaza and suburbs of Gaza City also reported heavy shelling.
Mohammad Jamal, 29, a resident of Gaza City, near Zeitoun, one of Gaza’s oldest suburbs, said: “It is as if the war started again. As if it is just happening, they burnt up the place.”
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Top White House official to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss normalising relations with Israel
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said he expects to travel to Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks.
He is to discuss with Saudi officials whether a deal to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia can be reached.
Mr Sullivan told reporters he was feeling much better after the rib injury which previously saw him postpone the trip.
Andy Gregory24 April 2024 21:38 1713988092Houthis target ships in Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean
Yemen’s Houthis claim to have attacked three ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
The Iran-aligned group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Wednesday that they had targeted the Maersk Yorktown ship and an American warship destroyer in the Gulf of Aden as well as targeting the Israeli ship MSC Veracruz in the Indian Ocean.
Andy Gregory24 April 2024 20:48 1713959065‘We don’t know why this is all happening'
Residents in Gaza City have spoken over the stepping up of attacks by Israeli troops across the region.
In the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes have killed 79 Palestinians and wounded 86 others, the Gaza Health Ministry said, adding many remain under rubble, or in the streets, where civil emergency and ambulance teams have not been able to reach them due to ongoing military operations and a lack of heavy earth moving machines.
“We don’t know why this is all happening. Is it because we returned home and we finally got some aid through after months of starvation and the Israelis didn’t like that?” said Mohammad Jamal, 29, a resident of Gaza City, near Zeitoun, one of Gaza’s oldest suburbs.
“It is as if the war started again. As if it is just happening, they burnt up the place,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Asked about Wednesday’s developments, the Israeli military has not yet commented.
Alex Ross24 April 2024 12:44 1713957488US plans to build Gaza aid pier branded ‘smokescreen’
US plans to build a giant floating dock off the coast of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid was accused of being a “smokescreen” to allow the Israeli army to invade Rafah.
The pier is expected to be in position by early May and was intended to bring in a “massive” increase of aid to Gaza by circumventing land routes controlled by the Israeli army.
However, UN officials have warned it won’t be positioned off northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is most severe, but at a point still overseen by an Israeli army checkpoint.
US plans for Gaza aid pier branded ‘smokescreen’ to allow Israeli invasion of Rafah
UN officials warned the project would likely be used as a substitute during Israel’s invasion of Rafah
Alex Ross24 April 2024 12:18 1713955073Palestinian civilians were fleeing their homes in northern Gaza
Some Palestinian civilians were fleeing their homes in northern Gaza on Wednesday just weeks after returning because of an Israeli bombardment which they said was as intense as at the start of the war.
Much of the shelling was focused for a second day on Beit Lahiya on the northern edge of Gaza, where the Israeli military gave evacuation orders to four neighbourhoods on Tuesday, warning they were in a “dangerous combat zone”.
Israel said its operations in Beit Lahiya targeted areas from where the armed wing of Hamas-aligned Islamic Jihad had launched rockets at two Israeli border settlements on Tuesday.
After a few weeks of relative calm, Israel has intensified its attacks overnight on Monday, focusing on areas, particularly in the north, from where it had previously withdrawn many of its troops, saying Hamas was no longer in control.
Israeli media said Israel was also poised to send troops into the southern town of Rafah, which it regards as Hamas’ last bastion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli military spokesperson’s office had no immediate comment on the media reports.
Alex Ross24 April 2024 11:37 1713953020Israeli military signals readiness to move on Rafah
As Israeli media report on an offensive on Rafah happening “very soon”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office made no immediate comment.
But while not discussing specific battle plans, the Israeli military has increasingly signalled readiness to move on Rafah.
“Hamas was hit hard in the northern sector. It was also hit hard in the centre of the Strip. And soon it will be hit hard in Rafah, too,” Brigadier-General Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Division operating in Gaza, told Kan public TV on Tuesday.
“Hamas should know that when the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) goes into Rafah, it would do best to raise its hands in surrender. Rafah will not be the Rafah of today... There won’t be munitions there. And there won’t be hostages there.”
Alex Ross24 April 2024 11:03 1713951040Israel has bought 40,000 tents for Rafah evacuation
Israel has procured tens of thousands of tents for Palestinian civilians it intends to evacuate from Rafah in the coming weeks ahead a promised assault on the city it sees as the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli sources said on Wednesday.
Abutting the Egyptian border, Rafah‘s population has been swollen by more than a million Palestinians who fled the half-year-old Israeli offensive through the rest of Gaza.
Their fate worries Western powers as well as Cairo, which has ruled out any influx of refugees into the Egyptian Sinai.
After weeks of talks with the United States about civilian safeguards, Israel’s Defence Ministry has bought 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, for Palestinians relocated from Rafah, Israeli government sources said.
Video circulated online appeared to show rows of square white tents going up in Khan Younis, a city some 5 km (3 miles) from Rafah.
Alex Ross24 April 2024 10:30 1713949240Where is the reportedly tent city for evacuees
The map below shows the location of a tent city reportedly being created for evacuees from Rafah ahead of Israel deploying troops to the region.
It is near Khan Younis, an area targeted by repeated Israeli military operations over recent weeks.
Israel has said it plans to evacuate civilians from Rafah during an anticipated offensive on the southern city, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken refuge during the war, now in its seventh month.
Alex Ross24 April 2024 10:00 1713948040Pictures showing the reported tent city for Rafah evacuees
Satellite images appear to show a huge tent city being created by Israel to base evacees from Rafa as the country prepares to tkae the last city in the Gaza Strip.
Images taken by Maxar Technologies on 7 April and then 23 April show a large development of white structures near Khan Younis.
It comes as Israel Hayom newspaper claimed the sending of tropps to Rafah was to happen “very soon”.
Rafah’s population has been swollen by more than a million Palestinians who fled other parts of the Gaza Strip during the more than half-year-old war.
Israeli media predict offensive in Rafah soon
Israel is poised to send troops into Rafah, the Gazan city it sees as the last bastion of Hamas, Israeli media reported on Wednesday, saying preparations were under way to evacuate war-displaced Palestinian civilians who have been sheltering there.
The Rafah sweep, postponed for several weeks amid disputes with Washington, will happen “very soon,” the mass-circulation Israel Hayom newspaper said, citing a decision by the Israeli government after ceasefire talks with Hamas stalled.
Several other Israeli media outlets carried similar reports. Some noted footage on social media that appeared to show the erection of a tent city for Rafah evacuees.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli military spokesperson’s office had no immediate comment.
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