Hamas-run health authorities say IDF kills 18 as Gaza City offensive continues

Hamas-run health authorities say IDF gunfire and strikes killed at least 18 people on Sunday, including 13 who tried to get food from near an aid site in the central Gaza Strip, and at least two in a house in Gaza City.

The IDF pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving residents out of the area. It is also reported to have killed Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing.

The IDF spokesperson’s office said they were reviewing the reports. The figures were not verified.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.

The IDF has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks and is planning to conquer the city. On Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”

“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.