Israel has already begun the initial stages of its offensive on Gaza City with the IDF launching attacks on the outskirts of the region with ‘great force’ while thousands of Palestinians flee south.
It comes after the Israeli military declared Gaza City ‘a dangerous combat zone’ on Friday, as it prepared to conquer the Palestinian territory’s largest city after almost two years of war.
‘We are not waiting. We have begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of the attack on Gaza City, and we are currently operating with great force on the outskirts of the city,’ the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee said.
‘We will intensify our strikes and will not hesitate until we bring back all the hostages and dismantle Hamas militarily and politically,’ he wrote on X.
The IDF had been implementing military pauses in the Strip in recent weeks to facilitate the distribution of essential humanitarian supplies such as food and medicine.
The military said it would continue the pauses across the enclave with the exception of Gaza City – the territory’s most populous region where roughly half of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents are taking shelter.
‘Starting today (Friday), at 10:00 (07:00 GMT), the local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone,’ the military said in a statement, referring the daily pauses in certain areas aimed at facilitating aid distribution.
On Wednesday, the IDF released a warning to the city’s residents to evacuate before Israel‘s planned operation to take full control.
The Israeli military declared Gaza City ‘a dangerous combat zone’ on Friday, as it prepared to conquer the Palestinian territory’s largest city
Smoke billowing during an Israeli strike on the besieged Palestinian territory, on August 29, 2025
People try to get rice from a charity kitchen providing food for free in the west of Gaza City, on August 28, 2025
‘Evacuating Gaza City is inevitable,’ Adraee said on X.
He hit back at the ‘false rumours’ that there was not enough space in the south of the Strip to accommodate the displaced population, and posted a map showing 19 zones to which people in Gaza City are to be relocated: in refugee camps in the central Strip, and in the Muwasi area of dunes in the south.
But Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that upon closer inspection of the map, several of these areas have been designated by the military as places where Gazans ‘would be in danger’.
Tens of thousands of furious Israelis have been taking to the streets to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand his military operation in Gaza.
Demonstrators blocked major highways, set fire to roads, and protested outside ministers’ homes in a national day of action on Tuesday – urging the government to stop the war and reach a deal for the release of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas.
Leading humanitarian groups have warned that the IDF’s plan to takeover Gaza City would prove catastrophic to the civilian population.
Repeating his call for an immediate ceasefire, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of ‘the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause’.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross called the expanded offensive aimed at targetting the remaining Hamas strongholds ‘intolerable’.
An activist blocks a highway during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City on Tuesday, August 26, 2025
An aerial view shows thousands of Israelis march through Rehinim Square and Shaul HaMelech Boulevard in Tel Aviv, demanding an end to the war and an agreement for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, on August 26, 2025
Protesters hold cutout pictures of hostages and a banner, as they block a road during a demonstration demanding the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel August 19, 2025
Leading humanitarian groups have warned that the IDF’s plan to takeover Gaza City would prove catastrophic to the civilian population
The Red Cross called the expanded offensive aimed at targetting the remaining Hamas strongholds ‘intolerable’
Palestinians are forced to flee and take to the roads due to the Israeli army’s intense attacks on the northern Gaza Strip on August 28, 2025
Palestinians gather at the scene to inspect the aftermath of the Israeli attack in Gaza City on August 29, 2025
‘The intensification of hostilities in Gaza means more killing, more displacement, more destruction and more panic,’ Christian Cardon, the chief spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said.
‘Gaza is a closed space from which nobody can escape… and where access to healthcare, food and safe water is dwindling. Meanwhile, the security of humanitarians is getting worse by the hour.’
On August 18, Hamas accepted a new proposal from Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a 60-day ceasefire, which would see the release of half of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
It is understood that Netanyahu rejected the deal, saying days later that he had issued instructions for negotiations to begin on the release of all hostages held in Gaza and an end to war – but only ‘on terms acceptable to Israel’.
On Friday, the IDF and Shin Bet forces recovered the body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss in an operation in the Strip.
Weiss, 56, was killed on the morning of October 7, 2023 during Hamas’ onslaught while defending Kibbutz Be’eri as a part of the emergency response team.
His body was held by Hamas operatives for 693 days in Gaza.
His wife, Shiri, 53, and daughter, Noga, 18, were also taken hostage during Hamas’ attack but were returned to Israel in November 2023 as part of a week-long truce.
On Friday, the IDF and Shin Bet forces recovered the body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss in an operation in the Strip
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City as Israel begins the initial stages of its expanded military operation
Israel’s expanded offensive will lead to ‘more killing, more displacement, more destruction’ according to the Red Cross
During the recovery of Weiss, the remains of another deceased hostage – whose identity has not yet been confirmed – were found.
The identification process is still ongoing at the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine.
According to official statistics, 48 hostages now remain in Gaza and Israel believes only 22 of them are alive.
In a deadly attack on Monday that Netanyahu called a ‘tragic mishap’, Israel struck one of the Strip’s main medical facilities and then hit it again as journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene – killing at least 20 people and wounding scores more.
Among those killed was 33-year-old Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who had worked for The Associated Press. The strike killed four other journalists who had worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters and Middle East Eye, a UK-based media outlet, most on a contractor or freelance basis.
Israeli media reported that Israeli troops fired two artillery shells at the hospital, targeting what they suspected was a Hamas surveillance camera on the roof.
The deadly strikes were condemned by the international community, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying he was ‘horrified’ by the attack.
‘Civilians, healthcare workers and journalists must be protected. We need an immediate ceasefire,’ he added.
A funeral ceremony is being held in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital for Reuters photojournalist Hossam al-Masri, Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Salameh, journalist Maryam Abu Deqqa, who worked with several media outlets including Independent Arabia and AP, and NBC News journalist Moaz Abu Taha, all of whom were killed in an Israeli attack on the hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on August 25, 2025
A funeral ceremony held in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital for Reuters photojournalist Hossam al-Masri, Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Salameh and journalist Mariam Abu Dagga
A journalist holds a blood-covered camera belonging to Palestinian photojournalist Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor who was killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, during his funeral on August 25, 2025
A view shows the fourth floor of Nasser Medical Complex damaged after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on August 25, 2025
A girl reacts as she and other Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025
The UN officially declared a famine in Gaza last Friday, sparking an immediate war of words with Israel – which furiously denied the report’s findings.
The famine was declared by experts at the Rome-based IPC, who said it affected 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory including Gaza City.
The body projected that famine would expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates by the end of September, covering around two-thirds of Gaza.
But the Israeli defence ministry body which oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, known as COGAT, slammed the report, saying previous editions had ‘proven inaccurate’.
‘Like previous IPC reports and assessments regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, this report ignores the data on aid deliveries published by COGAT, as well as Hamas’ deliberate and cynical exploitation of that aid,’ a statement by COGAT read.
‘The classification of famine relies on unpublished phone surveys, questionable assessments by UNRWA – some of whose employees are Hamas operatives – and local NGOs.’
The body also said that more than 10,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza through the UN, international organisations, and the private sector since May – 80 percent of which carried food. It also said more than 5,000 tonnes of baby food and more than 2,500 tonnes of medical equipment have been delivered during the same period.
In early March, Israel completely banned aid from Gaza for two months, leading to severe shortages of food, medicines and fuel.
Palestinian children of different ages receive treatment under limited conditions at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza
Children receive medical treatment at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on August 20, 2025
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said it was ‘a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare’ and said it ‘may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing’.
Israel has consistently denied that Gaza is facing a starvation crisis and has accused Hamas terrorists of looting aid that enters the Strip.
This is a developing story. More to follow.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .