Witnesses and medical sources described scenes of destruction across Gaza City and Khan Younis as entire neighborhoods were flattened.
Intensive air and artillery strikes pummeled Gaza City and Khan Younis throughout the day, reducing residential blocks to rubble.
According to local sources and medics, dozens were killed and many more wounded as Israeli forces continued their campaign of annihilation across the besieged enclave.
US President Donald Trump
on Friday urged Israel to “stop bombing Gaza immediately” after Hamas resistance movement expressed readiness to release Israeli captives under his proposal, saying the movement appeared “ready for lasting peace.”
Israel, however, ignored the appeal and intensified its bombardment.
In northern Gaza, six Palestinians were killed when Israeli warplanes obliterated a family home in Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighborhood, medical officials told Anadolu.
Another 17 people—including seven children—were killed in a separate strike on a residential block nearby.
Air raids on al-Yarmouk Street and the al-Labbabidi area killed at least two more Palestinians and wounded several others.
At least 14 more deaths were reported across Gaza City as the Israeli assault continued.
Israeli forces also unleashed remote-controlled, booby-trapped demolition robots in the Sabra and Tel al-Hawa districts, as well as Rimal, Nasr, and Beach Camp neighborhoods—turning residential areas into ruins.
Witnesses said tanks temporarily withdrew from al-Jalaa Street and Nasr neighborhood but drones remained overhead, firing at any visible movement.
Israel’s cabinet had approved a plan in August—spearheaded by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu—for the gradual reoccupation of Gaza, beginning with Gaza City.
Three days later, the army began its full-scale assault, destroying homes, towers, hospitals, and displacement camps in what Palestinian officials describe as a campaign of extermination.
In central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, a young girl was killed when Israeli forces struck an apartment on al-Ishrin Street.
Elsewhere in the region, more casualties were reported from continuous shelling.
In Khan Younis, at least eight Palestinians were killed by air and artillery strikes, while 11 bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital after further attacks.
Armored vehicles fired indiscriminately into residential zones, and shelling intensified in northern Khan Younis.
Israeli outlets, including KAN and military radio, reported political directives to “halt the Gaza City occupation operation” and scale down activity to “defensive measures.”
Netanyahu’s office claimed Israel was preparing to enact the first phase of Trump’s proposal following Hamas’s positive response.
Maariv newspaper said Netanyahu convened an overnight meeting with select ministers and generals, excluding far-right figures Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oppose halting the war.
Despite talk of a pause, Israeli war machine continue to force evacuations from Gaza City.
Military radio labeled areas north of Wadi Gaza as “dangerous combat zones,” warning civilians that remaining would pose “serious risk.”
Troops have surrounded the city, firing on anyone attempting to return.
Since October 2023, Israel’s bombardment has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children.
The United Nations and human rights groups warn that Gaza is being systematically destroyed, with famine and disease spreading across the shattered territory.