Israel’s intensified offensive to capture Gaza city, plans to relocate residents to South Sudan

Israel has escalated its assault on Gaza, launching heavy aerial and drone bombardments alongside a ground offensive aimed at fully capturing Gaza City, the main urban center in the enclave’s northeast. The campaign has put the lives of over one million residents—many of whom had sought refuge in the city—in grave danger. Countless Palestinians are fleeing east Gaza, abandoning their homes.

At the same time, Israel is reportedly in talks with South Sudan to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza. International observers allege that, as part of a plan of destruction and seizure, Israel intends to drive the remaining residents into the East African country.

According to AFP, Gaza City has been shaken by frequent airstrikes and explosions. Israeli ground forces, backed by tanks, are advancing through the southern Tal al-Hawa area. Sabah Fatoum, a 51-year-old resident, told the news agency that drones are flying overhead and many people are fleeing westward, abandoning both homes and tents.

Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told AFP that “for the fifth consecutive day, Israeli occupation forces have intensified their bombardment.”

“The Israeli occupation is using every kind of weapon in the area—bombs, drones, and highly explosive munitions—causing massive destruction to civilian homes,” Basal said.

By Thursday evening (14 August), Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that in the past 24 hours at least 54 Palestinians, including 22 aid seekers, had been killed and 831 wounded by Israeli attacks. A day earlier, on Wednesday, at least 123 people were killed and 437 injured. The ministry also said that four bodies had been recovered from the rubble of previous strikes.

Since Israel’s military campaign began on 7 October 2023, a total of 61,776 people have been killed and at least 154,906 wounded in Gaza.

Al Jazeera reports that the intensity of Israeli attacks this week has pushed the daily death toll to record highs, while the rate of home destruction continues to rise. Large swathes of northern Gaza have been reduced to a “lifeless desert.”

Doctors report that Israeli-imposed starvation and malnutrition claimed four more lives in the past 24 hours, bringing the famine-related death toll to 239—106 of them children. Medical professionals warn the humanitarian crisis has reached “catastrophic” levels.

Reuters reports that Israeli jets and tanks continue bombing and shelling eastern Gaza City. Overnight strikes destroyed many homes in the Zeitoun and Shejaiya neighborhoods. Al-Ahli Hospital said an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun killed 12 people. In the eastern part of Khan Younis, tank shelling destroyed several houses.

Palestinian medics said Israeli forces shot dead nine Palestinians seeking food at two relief centers run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza. The Health Ministry said that since the GHF began operating food distribution centers on 27 May, Israeli forces have killed 1,881 people trying to collect aid—1,367 near GHF centers and 514 along aid convoy routes. Another 13,863 aid seekers have been wounded in the same period.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said Israel continues to block essential aid—food, medicine, shelter materials, and hygiene supplies—from entering Gaza. UN experts accuse Israel of carrying out “silent killings” by destroying Gaza’s healthcare system and targeting medical workers with death and starvation.

Days after Israel’s security cabinet called for the capture of Gaza’s largest city, armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir approved the main outline for a new military campaign across the enclave. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not set a public timeline for Israeli forces to enter Gaza City, but Gaza’s Government Media Office Director Ismail Al-Thawabta said Israeli troops are continuing their aggressive incursions.

Israel has been waging its assault on Gaza for 22 months, leaving much of the territory in ruins. Most of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents have been displaced multiple times, and nearly half are now sheltering in Gaza City.

Al-Thawabta described the ground assault as part of a “scorched-earth” policy aimed at creating new conditions by completely destroying civilian infrastructure.

Meanwhile, six people familiar with the matter told AP that Israel is in talks with South Sudan to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza. Human rights groups warn this would amount to forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing, in violation of international law.

Critics fear Palestinians will never be allowed to return, and that the mass relocation could pave the way for Israel to annex the enclave and reestablish illegal settlements there.

South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, has struggled to recover from a civil war that killed about 400,000 people and left parts of the country facing famine. It also hosts large numbers of refugees from conflicts in neighboring countries.