Gaza (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – On Thursday, the Israeli army announced it controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest city in the besieged and devastated Palestinian enclave, and is preparing to take full control in a new offensive. Meanwhile, the civil defense in the sector reported at least 64 Palestinians killed since dawn.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a video statement: “Today we control 40 percent of Gaza City. The operation will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days,” adding, “We will increase pressure on Hamas until its defeat.”

The civil defense reported at least 64 people killed in Israeli strikes across the sector on Thursday.

Israel has intensified its strikes around Gaza City in recent days and continues its plan to control the Palestinian enclave despite increasing international and domestic pressure calling for an end to the war in Gaza, where the United Nations declared famine last month.

Last week, the Israeli army declared Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” and confirmed the need for evacuation. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross considered evacuation “impossible,” stating that plans for it are “unfeasible.”

Israeli warplanes bombing a tent for displaced people near Abu Mazen roundabout west of Gaza City killed five people, including three children, all from the Bassous family, according to civil defense.

The Israeli army told AFP it is reviewing reports including the timing and coordinates of these attacks.

Hiyam Bassous said, “Children, children, what did these innocent ones do? What did they do to the State of Israel? Did they carry a knife or a weapon?”

AFP footage showed tents for displaced people scattered on the ground, some burned and bloodstained, amid the shock of several children.

The morgue floor at Al-Shifa Hospital was crowded with bodies, while men outside performed prayers for some of them.

Civil defense reports indicate dozens are killed almost daily in Israeli operations in Gaza, where the army has besieged nearly two million residents for 23 months.

Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson from Al-Mawasi (south), after visiting Gaza City, said, “The unimaginable has begun. Without immediate food provision (…) more children will die of hunger.”

AFP cannot independently verify information from the Israeli army or Palestinian civil defense due to restrictions on journalists’ work in Gaza and difficulty accessing targeted sites.

In central Gaza, seven people, including three children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent belonging to the Abu Al-Eish family west of the Nuseirat camp, according to civil defense.

Yousef Suleiman, an elderly man who lost his nephew, wife, and two children in the strike, said the hit occurred at 4 a.m. “They bombed the land where we live, my nephew, his wife, and their two sons were martyred, the tent and everyone inside it are gone,” he added.

Umm Nabil Al-Eish, a Gaza resident who also lost relatives, said, “They starved us, dehydrated us, displaced us, and kill our children, and the world watches.”

UN estimates indicate about one million people live in Gaza City and its surroundings, the area the international organization said at the end of August is experiencing famine.

Eyewitnesses reported thousands of Palestinians fled the city in recent weeks.

A senior military official said Wednesday that Israel expects “one million” people to flee south. On Thursday, an Israeli army spokesperson accused Hamas of threatening civilians in an attempt “to prevent them from leaving the city.”

On Wednesday, protests took place in Jerusalem demanding the government approve a ceasefire in Gaza that guarantees the release of hostages. New protests were organized in Jerusalem Thursday evening calling for an end to the war.

The war in Gaza erupted after a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.

Israeli attacks and military operations in Gaza have killed at least 64,231 people, mostly civilians, according to the latest figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, considered reliable by the United Nations.

Diplomatically, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot in a phone call Thursday that Israel rejects a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron unless he retracts his intention to recognize the State of Palestine.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry also condemned remarks by the European Commission Vice-President regarding “extermination” in Gaza.

European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribeiro denounced on Thursday what she described as “extermination” in Gaza, criticizing the failure of EU countries to act to stop it.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmurstein wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday: “We strongly condemn the baseless allegations made by the European Commission Vice-President.”

He added: “Instead of repeating the charge of ‘extermination’ spread by Hamas, Ribeiro should call for the release of all hostages and urge Hamas to lay down arms to end the war.”

Meanwhile, Hamas announced in a statement that a delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, head of the movement in Gaza, “met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his accompanying delegation in the Qatari capital Doha today, Thursday, reviewing political developments and the latest on the ongoing Zionist aggression on Gaza.”