Gaza death toll surpasses 63,000
At least 59 Palestinians, including 23 aid seekers, have been killed and 224 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 63,025 Palestinians and injured 159,490 since October 7, 2023, the ministry added.
The total number of aid seekers killed since May 27, when Israel introduced a new aid distribution mechanism through the US-based GHF, has reached 2,203, with more than 16,228 injured, the statement said.
Five clergy, 440 displaced people to remain in Gaza City’s Catholic church despite offensive
A spokesperson for Gaza’s only Catholic church says about 440 people who have taken shelter there had unanimously agreed to stay, despite word that Israel was preparing to mount a new military offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Farid Jubran told The Associated Press news agency that their decision to stay in Gaza City’s Holy Family Church was made of their own free will and “wasn’t imposed on the people”.
He said five clergy have also stayed in the church to assist those sheltering, including women, children and older people. But Jubran, who is currently outside of Gaza, said it’s “up to them” if they want to leave the church at some point later.
The spokesperson said no additional measures have been taken inside the church to bolster the safety of the people. He said “when we feel danger, people get closer to the walls or whatever, it’s more protected” but that the church “doesn’t have any specific defences”.
Israeli military begins ‘initial stages’ of attack on Gaza City
The Israeli military says it has begun the “initial stages” of its offensive on Gaza City, as it declared the largest urban centre in the besieged territory a “combat zone” and announced the suspension of daily pauses in fighting there that allowed the entry of humanitarian aid to the famine-hit city.
“We are not waiting. We have begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of the attack on Gaza City,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in a post on X on Friday.
“We are currently operating with great force on the outskirts of the city,” he said.
The announcement came as the Israeli military confirmed it suspended so-called “tactical pauses” in its attacks on the city in northern Gaza that had previously allowed limited humanitarian operations there.
Gaza City residents flee homes under ‘undeniable sense of emergency’
There is an undeniable sense of emergency in Gaza City. Israel has intensified its attacks and is using remotely controlled robots to demolish residential areas, each reportedly packed with at least seven tonnes of explosives, enough to level entire neighbourhoods.
The skyline of Gaza City is completely covered in black smoke … and civilians there have been talking about an extremely devastating humanitarian toll that they are bearing. They say that they have been forced to flee under heavy firepower.
They are tentatively now taking shelter in the western end of Gaza City, which also remains under huge Israeli military pressure. They say that they are left stranded with nowhere safe to go.
A man loads his possessions onto a cart pulled by a donkey as he prepares to flee Gaza City
