Israel storms Gaza City neighborhood, orders Palestinians to go south

Jerusalem: The Israeli military on Thursday ordered new evacuations from the Gaza City neighbourhoods that were heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war. The latest orders apply to Shijaiyah and other neighbourhoods where residents reported heavy bombing on Thursday.

First responders with Gaza’s Civil Defence, which is part of the Hamas-run government, said airstrikes hit five homes, killing at least three people and wounding another six. It said rescuers were still digging through the rubble for survivors.

Shijaiyah residents in a messaging group shared video showing large numbers of people fleeing the neighbourhood on foot with their belongings in their arms.

Also on Thursday, the Israeli military said a soldier was killed and 16 others were wounded during a military operation overnight in the West Bank. There were no immediate reports of Palestinian casualties.

On Wednesday, an Iranian-backed umbrella group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed an attack targeting the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. The militants are allied with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are suspected of attacking a ship in the Gulf of Aden the same day and one in the Red Sea on Thursday.

Shipping has reduced drastically through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war rages in the Gaza Strip.

International criticism is growing over Israel’s campaign against Hamas as Palestinians face severe and widespread hunger. The eight-month war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, and people there are now totally dependent on aid. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.