Intensified Assault: Israel's Air Strikes Displace Thousands in Gaza City

Sat Sep 13 2025 18:52:42 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

As Israeli forces increase air strikes in Gaza City, families flee amid warnings of impending ground offensives. The humanitarian crisis deepens as civilian casualties rise and calls for evacuations spark conflicting reactions.

Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified, leading to the evacuation of approximately 250,000 residents, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. The current military operation has utilized heavy bombardments, resulting in widespread destruction of infrastructure. With warnings issued to civilians, many families flee under dire circumstances, facing obstacles such as costs for evacuation. Meanwhile, local officials and humanitarian organizations express growing concerns about a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Israeli forces have stepped up their assault on Gaza City with a wave of heavy air strikes, marking a sharp escalation from previous military operations.

Unlike earlier phases of the war, the current offensive has relied heavily on aerial bombardments, with entire apartment blocks and large concrete structures reduced to rubble.

The intensification of strikes in recent days has triggered a surge in civilian displacement.

Israel has warned all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.

On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said about 250,000 people had left the city and moved south. It also said it had destroyed a high-rise building that it said had been used to advance and execute terrorist attacks against its troops.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the city is Hamas's last major stronghold. But the plan to occupy Gaza City has brought international criticism.

The UN has warned an intensification of the offensive on an area where a famine has already been declared will push civilians into an even deeper catastrophe. Gaza City is the largest urban center in the territory and a historic heart of Palestinian political and social life.

Residents say the Israeli military has been targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often issuing warnings only moments before bombardments.

Many families have been forced to flee in darkness toward western Gaza.

We escaped certain death, my husband, our three children and I, said Saly Tafeesh, a mother sheltering in the city. My brother died in my arms after being shot by a quadcopter drone. We ran in the dark to the west of Gaza.

The Israeli military has told residents to evacuate to the south of the territory - but many families say they cannot afford the journey, which costs up to $1,100 (£800). Hamas, meanwhile, has intensified its calls for residents to stay put and resist leaving the city.

Rubein Khaled, a father of nine preparing to move south, expressed frustration.

The Hamas preacher at Friday prayers accused anyone leaving Gaza City of being a coward running from the battlefield, he said.

But why doesn't he tell Hamas leaders to surrender and release the Israeli hostages so this war can stop? We don't want to leave either, but we have no choice.

Israeli forces have not yet reached some eastern neighborhoods that have remained largely intact since earlier raids in January, but the current campaign suggests they may now be seeking to dismantle entire districts.

Meanwhile, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman strongly criticized Israel's prime minister in an interview with the BBC following this week's Israeli strike on Hamas officials in the Qatari capital Doha.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told the BBC that the international community had to deal with a Netanyahu problem.

He is not somebody who is listening to anybody right now, who is listening to any reason, and we have to collectively stop him in his tracks, the official said.

The Israeli attack in Doha targeted Hamas officials discussing the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, resulting in the death of several individuals associated with the group.

As the fighting continues, civilians remain caught in a devastating cycle of violence, amid growing international concern regarding the humanitarian fallout.