Gaza civil defense says 19 killed in Israeli strikes

GAZA CITY (AFP): Gaza’s civil defense agency said 19 people were killed on Friday in a series of Israeli strikes in and around Gaza City, which the Israeli military is planning to conquer.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the attacks hit buildings and tents housing displaced Gazans in several neighborhoods and on the outskirts of the city, where the United Nations says more than a million people are facing famine.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military requested timeframes and coordinates to comment on specific incidents.

Israel has stepped up its bombardment of Gaza City since saying it would launch a full-scale offensive to capture it. Army spokesman Nadav Shoshani said Thursday the start of the campaign would not be announced in order to “maintain the element of surprise.”

Another army spokesman, Effie Defrin, said Thursday that Israeli troops already controlled 40 percent of the city.

Israel expects its new offensive will displace around a million people toward the south.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli military.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,231 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.