The Israeli military said its 401st Brigade had returned to Jabalia to “destroy Hamas infrastructure above and below ground.”
Palestinians reported relentless airstrikes and demolitions across Shujaiya, Zaytoun, Sabra, and Jabalia, part of what Israel calls Operation Gideon’s Chariots 2.
The escalation follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval of a plan to occupy Gaza City with tens of thousands of soldiers last week, which would begin after a two-month encirclement of the city, according to Tel Aviv state broadcaster Kan.
The expanded military operations come despite Hamas having accepted a Cairo- and Doha-brokered 60-day ceasefire proposal, initially put forward by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The Gaza Government Media Office said more than 1.3 million people lived in the city, including over half a million children, warning that an invasion would be “a dangerous escalation, a direct threat to hundreds of thousands of civilian lives, and a war crime” given the collapse of the health system.
Tens of international human rights groups have condemned the plan, warning of another wave of mass killings and displacement.
Strikes on aid queues
Medical sources said at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the strip on Sunday, seven of them while waiting for food aid.
Al-Awda hospital reported three people killed and eight wounded in a strike on an aid distribution point in central Gaza.
At al-Ahli Baptist hospital, a woman died in a separate strike on the Zaytoun neighbourhood.
At the same time, emergency services reported another fatality and several injuries near an aid station north of Rafah.
In the south, Al Jazeera reported Israeli helicopter fire and air raids on Khan Younis.
The attacks came a day after one of the deadliest incidents of recent weeks, when 58 Palestinians were killed, including 16 queuing for aid.
Famine claims more lives
As bombs fell, hunger continued to tighten its grip. Gaza’s health ministry said eight people–including a one-month-old baby–had died of starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from hunger since Israel launched its genocidal war on the strip in October 2023 to 289, among them 115 children.
On 2 March, Israel enforced a total blockade — cutting off food, fuel, water and aid — manufacturing famine conditions over the following five months.
Only in late July, following global outrage, did Tel Aviv begin allowing some supplies to trickle through the Israeli-controlled Karam Abu Salem crossing, with Egypt pushing trucks under tight restrictions and frequent obstruction by the occupation.
On Friday, the United Nations (UN) formally declared a famine in Gaza–"the first ever recorded in the Middle East"–blaming Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the crisis as “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment–and a failure of humanity itself.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine conditions were now affecting about 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which is approximately a quarter of the population, including the city.
The IPC said famine is declared when three thresholds — extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths — are breached, criteria its latest analysis confirms have now been met.
The IPC scale ranges from Phase 1 “food secure” to Phase 5 “famine/humanitarian catastrophe.”
The situation is projected to deteriorate further: by the end of September, according to the UN, more than 640,000 people in Gaza are expected to face Phase 5 catastrophic hunger, with 1.14 million in Phase 4 emergency conditions and another 396,000 in Phase 3 crisis.
UN agencies have also warned that child malnutrition is escalating at “a catastrophic pace,” with over 12,000 children acutely malnourished in July alone — a sixfold increase since January.
Projections show the number of children at risk of death tripling since May to 43,400 by June 2026.
Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians–primarily women and children–and displaced almost the entire population multiple times.
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