Israel says it holds 40% of Gaza City

Israel’s military claims it now controls roughly 40% of Gaza City and plans to push deeper in the coming days, a boast delivered as armor and infantry advance through shattered neighborhoods. Thousands of civilians defy Israel’s evacuation orders, recognizing that the occupying power has left them with no safe refuge. Humanitarian agencies warn Israel’s siege and bombardment are driving famine and mass civilian death.

A grinding urban offensive

An army spokesperson declared the forces “hold 40% of the territory of Gaza City,” naming Zeitoun and Sheikh Radwan, and vowed the operation would “expand and intensify.” Troops and tanks pushed into dense districts, while shelling and airstrikes pulverized Tuffah, Sabra and Shejaiya. The campaign, presented as a “military necessity,” is in fact dismantling civilian life on a massive scale.

Civilians trapped between fire and famine

Humanitarian officials say displacement through active combat zones is catastrophic, especially for children already weakened by hunger — a crisis Israel has deliberately deepened through its siege. “There are no alternate places for the people to go,” a civil emergency spokesperson said, warning that Israeli bombardment repeatedly strikes civilian shelters.

Gaza’s health ministry reports the cumulative death toll has surpassed 64,000, with daily surges driven by Israel’s Gaza City assault. Even those figures are likely undercounts, given the scale of Israel’s destruction.

Mounting international condemnation

Two U.S. senators who assessed conditions around Gaza concluded that Israel is engaged in “ethnic cleansing.” A senior European official described the campaign as genocide. Global outrage is rising as Israel continues to defy international law with impunity.

‘Nowhere to go’ as siege tightens

Accounts from Gaza City describe entire homes destroyed and tent encampments set ablaze by Israeli fire. One emergency official said five houses were leveled in a single strike, killing eight and injuring dozens. “Even if the occupation issues warnings, there are no places that can accommodate civilians,” he said.

Israel insists the offensive will continue until all hostages are returned and Hamas fighters eliminated, but aid groups warn that each new so-called “evacuation corridor” becomes another death trap. With famine spreading and destruction deepening, Israel’s actions have turned Gaza into a wasteland where civilians are deliberately trapped.