Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
The Israeli military has resumed and intensified its ground and air operations around Gaza City, ending a temporary local ceasefire that had allowed limited humanitarian aid deliveries. The escalation marks a renewed push in Israel’s nearly two-year-long campaign to dismantle Hamas and regain control over the Gaza Strip, even as global outrage grows over mounting civilian casualties and the worsening famine in the besieged territory.
On Friday, the Israeli army announced that its tactical pause in fighting, which had enabled the flow of aid into parts of Gaza, would no longer apply to Gaza City, now designated a “dangerous combat zone.” The military warned civilians to flee south, although humanitarian agencies argue that even southern Gaza remains under bombardment and lacks the capacity to absorb more displaced families.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated that Israeli forces are now operating “with full force” in the outskirts of Gaza City. “We are deepening our strikes and will not hesitate until all hostages are returned and Hamas is dismantled both militarily and administratively,” he said.
As the military operation accelerates, Israel reported the recovery of the body of Ilan Weiss, one of the approximately 250 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. According to Israeli officials, Weiss, a member of a local emergency response team, was killed on the day of the attack and his remains were only recently recovered, along with belongings of another unidentified hostage.
The renewed offensive comes amid devastating reports of worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitoring body, recently confirmed famine-like conditions in Gaza City and its surrounding areas. Israel has rejected the IPC’s findings, but local health officials continue to report rising numbers of deaths due to starvation and malnutrition.
On Friday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported five new deaths from hunger-related causes including two children, bringing the total to 322 since the war began. In the same 24-hour period, 48 people were reportedly killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave.
A harrowing video by Reuters captured rows of white body bags laid out in front of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, as grieving families identified the dead. One man was seen clutching the body of a small child, his hand covering his face in anguish. “Why did they bomb them?” asked Manal Sahwil, a relative of the victims. “What did they do while sleeping? They were children three years old. What did they do?”
In a separate statement, the Israeli military claimed it had killed Mohammad Abdul Aziz Abu Zubeida, whom it identified as the most senior Islamic State (ISIS) operative in Gaza. However, experts note that ISIS-affiliated groups have had minimal presence in Gaza in recent years, largely suppressed by Hamas itself.
Since the war’s eruption with Hamas’s surprise assault on October 7, which killed around 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of roughly 250 hostages according to Israeli figures, the conflict has claimed over 63,000 lives in Gaza, most of them civilians according to local health authorities.
In a related diplomatic development, the U.S. State Department announced on Friday that it has revoked visas for members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in September. The decision, which Washington said was based on concerns that the Palestinian leadership was “undermining peace prospects,” is expected to further strain already fragile relations between the U.S. and the Palestinian political leadership.
The PLO and the Palestinian Authority, recognized internationally as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people, currently administer parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank under interim agreements with Israel. However, their credibility has been under increasing pressure amid rising Palestinian casualties and a growing disconnect between leadership and public sentiment.
As Israel pushes deeper into Gaza City and the death toll continues to climb, calls for a lasting ceasefire and a political solution are being drowned out by the sounds of war. With famine looming, humanitarian corridors restricted, and peace talks stalled, Gaza remains caught in one of the deadliest and most destructive conflicts in recent history.
