Gaza City residents flee Israeli attacks, 63,459 killed so far

Residents of northern Gaza and surrounding areas are fleeing as Israeli forces intensify their assault on Gaza City, driving out a million Palestinians. Another 88 people have been killed and 421 injured in the besieged valley in attacks over the past 24 hours, while another seven have died from the Israeli-imposed famine.

Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces have forced all families in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City to flee westward, using ground operations, tank shelling and gunfire, and continuous air and drone strikes. They are destroying and forcibly displacing Palestinians' homes using "explosive robots" in residential areas. Even tents in refugee camps that shelter the displaced are being continuously hit.

The coordinated Israeli attacks are part of Operation Gideon's Chariot 2, which began in Zaytunpara on August 21 in Gaza City. The occupying country plans to stop this large-scale operation by going to Sabra.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that the death toll from Israeli attacks in the past 22 months has reached 63,459, with at least 160,256 injured. On the other hand, 339 people have died of starvation in the enclave declared by the United Nations to be in full-scale famine, 124 of whom are children.

Turkish media outlet Anadolu reported that 58 of the dead throughout the day on Saturday (August 30) were killed by shelling fired by Israeli forces. The remaining 30 people were killed and 206 injured when Israeli soldiers opened fire with live ammunition while collecting humanitarian aid at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) relief center. This brings the number of aid seekers killed since the establishment of the Israeli- and US-backed GHF on May 27 to 2,248, and more than 16,660 injured.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 251 hostages. About 50 are still being held captive in Gaza. At least 20 of them are believed to be alive. Israel is continuing its military operation across Gaza, claiming to rescue them.

Despite announcing a ceasefire on January 19 of this year under pressure from the United States and other mediating countries, Israel has been conducting military operations again since March 18. So far, 11,328 Palestinians have been killed and 48,000 injured in this second phase of the operation.