Israel intensifies Gaza City strikes as many residents refuse evacuation

Cairo: Israeli strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Friday, local health authorities said, most of them in Gaza City, where many residents are staying put despite Israeli evacuation orders because they have nowhere safe to go.

Israel has stated its intention to take full control of the ruined city, where about a million people are sheltering, as part of its plan to wipe out the militant group Hamas, and has been intensifying its attacks.

"The explosions never stopped since yesterday," said father-of-two Adel, 60, who lives in Gaza City close to Beach refugee camp. He did not wish to give his full name for safety reasons.

"Many families left their homes and that is what the occupation wants," he told Reuters via a chat app. "By these bombardments they are telling people 'You either leave your area or die there'."

The army said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City this week, targeting more than 500 sites, and that it had destroyed reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.

In a statement, it said it would "continue to intensify the pace of strikes in a focused manner, based on precise intelligence, with the aim of hitting Hamas' infrastructure".

Palestinian health authorities said several deadly strikes had hit targets in the south of the territory, where some of those fleeing the bombardment of Gaza City have been heading.

Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, which liaises with the UN and international aid groups, told Reuters an estimated 10% of people in Gaza City had left since Israel announced its plan to take control a month ago.

The Israeli army said it had started expanding an area of the southern Gaza Strip it calls "Crossing 147" in order to increase the volume of aid entering a designated humanitarian zone. This was in preparation to receive the population leaving the northern area, it said.

"It should be emphasised that upon completion, the crossing's intake capacity will rise to 150 trucks per day - triple the current level, thereby enabling increased entry of aid, with an emphasis on food," the army said in a statement.

The UN and many foreign governments, including those of countries traditionally allied with Israel, have condemned the Gaza City evacuation order, called for a ceasefire, and sharply criticised conditions in the humanitarian zone.

Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, mostly civilians, according to local health authorities, caused a hunger crisis and wider humanitarian disaster, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

The territory's health ministry has said at least 411 people, including 142 children, have died of malnutrition and starvation in the enclave.

The war was triggered by Hamas-led attacks launched from Gaza on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

On Friday, Israeli police said an attacker from a Palestinian area of the West Bank had been arrested after carrying out a stabbing attack on guests of a hotel at a kibbutz near Jerusalem.

Israel's ambulance service said two people had been taken to hospital.