Egypt Daily News – The Israeli military announced on Friday the launch of a new ground operation in Gaza City in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip. The military stated that the operation aims to “expand the security zone” that it is trying to establish within Palestinian territories.
The Civil Defense in Gaza reported that at least 30 people have been killed since the early hours of Friday.
Israel resumed violating the ceasefire by restarting the fighting in the Gaza Strip last month, after a weeks-long truce. It carried out extensive airstrikes and launched ground operations across the territory. Israeli officials said the operations aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages held since the outbreak of the war in 2023.
The Gaza Civil Defense reported that at least 31 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a school that was being used as a shelter for war-displaced people. The Israeli military confirmed carrying out an airstrike on a “Hamas command and control center” within Gaza City.
Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents fled on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in one of the largest waves of mass displacement since the war began, as Israeli forces advanced amid the rubble in the city of Rafah, which Israel declared as part of the “security zone” it intends to control.
A day after announcing its intention to control large areas of the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces entered the southern city, which had been a last refuge for people displaced from other areas during the war.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that at least 97 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours, including at least 20 people killed in an airstrike on the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City early this morning.
Later on Thursday, Hamas-affiliated health authorities stated that an Israeli airstrike killed at least 31 Palestinians, including women and children, inside a school building that had been used as a shelter for displaced families in Gaza City. The Israeli military said the strike targeted “important Palestinian terrorists.”
Rescue workers said that three rockets hit the Dar al-Arqam School building in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City. The Israeli military stated that it targeted a command center used by militants to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and army forces.
A father of seven, who was among the hundreds of thousands fleeing Rafah to the nearby Khan Yunis, told Reuters via a messaging app, “Rafah is gone, they are wiping it out.”
He added, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, “They are destroying every building or house that is still standing.” The attack on Rafah marks a significant escalation in the war that Israel resumed last month, effectively abandoning the ceasefire that had been implemented in January.
Earlier, the Israel’s military confirmed carrying out an airstrike on a “Hamas command and control center” within Gaza City. The military added in a statement, “The terrorists were using the command center to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and Israeli army forces.” It is unclear whether the military was referring to the same airstrike that targeted the school.
