Israel pressured by allies over plight of civilians in Gaza as thousands flee enclave's north
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinians living in the heart of Gaza's largest city said Wednesday they could see and hear Israeli ground forces closing in from multiple directions, accelerating the exodus of thousands of civilians as food and water become scarce and urban fighting between Israel and Hamas heats up.
The Israeli army has not given specifics on troop movements as it presses its ground assault, vowing to crush Hamas after its deadly Oct. 7 assault inside Israel. But residents said Israeli forces had moved into inner neighborhoods of Gaza City amid intense bombardment all around the surrounding north.
Clashes took place within a kilometer of the territory's largest hospital, Shifa, which has become a focal point in the war.
The Israeli military says Hamas' main command center is located in and under the hospital complex and that senior leaders of the group are hiding there, using the facility as a shield.
Hamas and hospital staff deny the claim and say the military is making a pretext to strike it.
For Palestinians in Gaza, the hospital is a symbol of civilian suffering in the war. Like others, it has been overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and struggling as electricity and medical supplies run out. Tens of thousands of displaced people have been sheltering in and around the complex.
The Group of Seven wealthy industrial nations issued a statement Wednesday condemning Hamas and supporting Israel's right to self-defense. But the group also called for the "unimpeded" delivery of food, water, medicine and fuel, and for "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left open the possibility of small pauses to deliver aid, but has ruled out a broader cease-fire unless nearly 240 hostages taken by Hamas are freed.
"There are no limitations" on how long the war will last, Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's decision-making War Cabinet, said Wednesday.
Gantz acknowledged that Israel does not yet have a vision for the Gaza Strip after it destroys Hamas rule, but said it will include an Israeli security presence in the territory after the war - a point that echoed comments earlier this week by Netanyahu, who said Israel would likely maintain security control of Gaza for an "indefinite period."
The prime minister's comments appear to have heightened U.S. concerns. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called for a united and Palestinian-led government for Gaza and the West Bank after the war ends, as a move toward Palestinian statehood.
The U.S. and Israel agree that the Hamas militant group cannot return to its rule of the Gaza Strip. But none of the ideas that Israeli officials have raised for Gaza's governance after the war have included independent Palestinian rule as a credible possibility.
Support for the war remains strong inside Israel, where the focus has been on the fate of the hostages.
Over 70% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have already left their homes since the war began but the number fleeing the north has dramatically accelerated.
Throngs of people filled Salah al-Din Street, Gaza's main highway leading south. They appeared to be in greater numbers than Tuesday, when the U.N. said about 15,000 people streamed southward - which in turn was triple the number the day before.
Families walked together, with men and women carrying young children or pushing the elderly on makeshift carts. Most had only a few belongings in backpacks. A few families rode on donkey carts, holding white flags as they approached Israeli tanks. Israel extended the daily window for them to use the road to five hours.
Israeli forces advancing from the northwest along the Mediterranean coast have been clashing with fighters inside Shati refugee camp, a dense neighborhood adjacent to Gaza City's center, two residents told The Associated Press. The past nights have seen heavy bombardment of Shati, which houses Palestinian families who fled from or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its establishment.
Other troops entered Gaza City's Zeitoun district. One resident living near Shifa Hospital said he saw Israeli troops battling fighters on a street about 600 meters from the hospital.
"I'm hearing all kinds of horrible sounds. It is terrifying. There are intense airstrikes," he said. Both residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The Israeli army's chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Wednesday the ground forces were deepening the offensive into Gaza City. The army said it killed one of Hamas' leading developers of rockets and other weapons, without saying where he was killed.
Israel is focusing its operations on the city, which was home to some 650,000 people before the war and where the military says Hamas has its central command and a labyrinth of tunnels.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have heeded Israeli orders in recent weeks to flee to the south to get out of the way of the ground assault.