Israeli forces announced its plan of action for "expanding ground operations," as they struck cities, towns, and refugee camps across Gaza resulting in a new mass exodus. Gaza residents spoke with CNN earlier and said that they had been subjected to the most intense airstrikes since Hamas' October 7 attack and that their communications links have been completely severed.
Israel has ordered civilians to vacate the area as their forces close in.
To the south, Israeli forces targeted the center of a hospital in Khan Younis, the primary southern city in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian residents were gravely concerned about a ground incursion into an area already densely populated by families rendered homeless in the past 12 weeks of war.
Israel launched the war to dismantle the militant organization, Hamas, that runs Gaza. This comes after the group stormed through Israeli towns in a cross-border raid on October 7. Reuters revealed 1,200 Israelis were killed and roughly 240 were taken hostage. Since then, 110 hostages were freed during a temporary truce in late November and another 23 have been declared dead in absentia, said an Israeli government spokesperson on Thursday.
Bassel Kheir al-Din, a journalist with a local TV station spoke with NPR and said the strike flattened his family house and severely damaged three neighboring homes. He said 12 members of his family - including three children aged 2, 7, and 8 - were buried and presumed dead, and that nine neighbors were missing.
According to Palestinian health authorities, Reuters reported that 210 people were confirmed dead by Israeli strikes within the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll to 21,320 Palestinians killed since the onset of the war. Thousands of others are unaccounted for amidst the debris and devastation in the aftermath.
Saeed Mustafa, a resident of the Nuseirat refugee camp also told NPR, "It was another night of killing and massacres." He said people were still crying out from the rubble of a house hit by an airstrike on Wednesday. "We are unable to get them out. We hear their screams but we don't have equipment," he continued.
As Israel has sharpened its offensive tactics, Palestinians have fled into shelters and tent camps along the Egyptian border and Mediterranean coastline. Israel's offensive in Gaza stands as one of the most catastrophic military campaigns witnessed in recent history.
Israel has declared its intention to persist with its ground operation until Hamas is eliminated, asserting that this is the only viable way to protect its security and release any remaining hostages. Palestinians have stated that eradicating Hamas is an unattainable goal due to the militant group's decentralized structure and deeply rooted presence in a territory it has ruled since 2007.
