DUBLIN,Ireland Aug 12-Gaza City has come under relentless Israeli air and drone strikes for a third consecutive day, the territory’s Hamas-run civil defence agency said, as Israeli forces prepare to move in and occupy the area.
Mahmud Bassal, a civil defence spokesman, reported heavy bombardment of the Zeitoun and Sabra districts, leaving “massive destruction to civilian homes” and preventing residents from retrieving the dead and wounded.
The escalating violence comes as the UK, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan jointly warned that “famine is unfolding in front of our eyes” in Gaza, urging “immediate, permanent and concrete steps” to allow the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid. The statement also called for an end to the use of lethal force near aid convoys, where the UN says more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly by Israeli troops.
Israel denies starvation is taking place and accuses UN agencies of failing to collect and distribute aid from border points.
The World Health Organisation on Tuesday appealed to Israel to permit the urgent stocking of medical supplies in anticipation of a “catastrophic” health crisis when its troops enter the city. “We currently cannot stock hospitals with essential medicines and supplies,” said Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories.
Israel’s war cabinet voted on Monday to seize Gaza City, drawing condemnation during an emergency UN Security Council meeting. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said they were “at the beginning of a new state of combat,” but gave no timeline for the operation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered forces to dismantle what he called Hamas’s “two remaining strongholds” in Gaza City and al-Mawasi, while outlining measures to expand aid delivery, including the creation of safe corridors and increased air drops.
Residents described the bombardment as among the most intense in recent weeks. “With every strike, the ground shakes,” said Majed al-Hosary of Zeitoun. “There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped.”
The Hamas-run health ministry said 100 bodies had been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, including 31 people killed near aid sites. It also reported five deaths from malnutrition.
The 22-month conflict has drawn growing international condemnation. On Tuesday, members of “The Elders” – a group of former global leaders – described the war as an “unfolding genocide.”
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Irish president Mary Robinson said after visiting the Gaza border: “What we saw and heard underlines our conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide.”
