Israel has escalated its war on Gaza by announcing the “initial stages” of an assault on Gaza City, a move that aid agencies say condemns hundreds of thousands of civilians to even greater suffering. The military designated the city a “dangerous combat zone” on Friday and cancelled daily humanitarian pauses, cutting off one of the last channels for aid deliveries. The decision comes as the United Nations confirms that famine is already taking hold in Gaza, where children are dying of hunger under Israel’s blockade and bombardment.

Gaza Declared A Battlefield

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said troops had begun operating “with great force on the outskirts of the city,” signalling that Gaza’s largest population centre is now treated as a battlefield. The designation strips civilians of protections once afforded through limited aid corridors. Airstrikes have already pulverised Gaza City’s Zeitoun and Sabra districts, with Gaza’s Civil Defence reporting more than 1,000 residential buildings reduced to rubble since early August. Families have been forced to flee repeatedly through streets littered with debris, often with nowhere safe to go. Survivors described firebelt attacks setting entire blocks ablaze. “It was very scary bombardment,” said Nihad Madoukh, a resident of Sheikh Radwan.

Humanitarian Access Shut Down

The cancellation of “tactical pauses” marks a deliberate tightening of Israel’s siege. For weeks, those short windows had allowed aid trucks to deliver small amounts of food and medicine. By ending them, Israel has cut off desperate families from the little relief they had. The UN’s famine monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, has already confirmed that famine exists in northern Gaza. Aid workers say Israel’s decision effectively weaponises hunger, denying civilians food while bombs continue to fall. Humanitarian agencies have accused Israel of breaching international law by using starvation as a method of warfare.

Children Starving To Death

The consequences are visible in Gaza’s overwhelmed nutrition centres. UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram described parents arriving in despair, carrying children skeletal from hunger. Supplies of therapeutic food are nearly exhausted. “The demand is enormous, and the stock is nowhere near enough,” she told reporters. In the past 24 hours, at least five people, including two children, died of starvation, raising the toll from hunger and malnutrition to 322 since the war began. Palestinian health officials say 121 children are among the dead. The IPC warns that famine will soon spread further unless aid access is restored.

Civilian Deaths Mount Under Bombardment

Israel’s assault has intensified across the strip, killing 41 Palestinians on Friday alone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Six were shot near the Netzarim Corridor while seeking aid. Five more died in al-Mawasi, a supposed “safe zone,” when an airstrike hit tents where families were sleeping. “Stop this war against us. Have mercy on the children,” pleaded a grandfather who rushed his injured grandchildren to hospital. The overall death toll has now surpassed 62,600, the vast majority women and children, with more than 157,000 injured. Aid workers warn that with Israel now treating Gaza City as an open battlefield, the humanitarian disaster risks spiralling beyond control.