Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City towards the southern areas of the Gaza Strip, in Nuseirat, as the Israeli army invades the north. AFP
“Starting today (Friday), at 10:00 (07:00 GMT), the local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone,” the military said in a statement.
The pauses, which Israel says are intended to facilitate aid distribution, have not been observed on the ground, with at least 41 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since dawn.
The military did not call for an immediate evacuation, but the army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that the city’s evacuation — which experts have warned amounts to “ethnic cleansing” — was “inevitable”.
The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory. Other figures put the number of Palestinians in the north closer to one million.
AFP photos from the centre of the territory on Thursday showed lines of Palestinians fleeing south in vans and cars piled high with mattresses, chairs and bags.
Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed last week to open the “gates of hell” on Gaza City, despite a ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar that Hamas has agreed to, pending Israeli approval.
His ministry had previously approved the military's plan to occupy the city and authorised the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 62,966 Palestinians and injured 160,000 others, mostly women and children, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.
Independent estimates suggest the death toll is significantly higher.
A five-month Israeli blockade has triggered mass starvation in Gaza, with a UN-backed body officially declaring famine in the northern parts of the strip under Israeli siege.
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