Gaza Braces for Major IDF Offensive After Deadly Weekend Strikes
Gaza Braces for Major IDF Offensive After Deadly Weekend Strikes
Gaza is on high alert as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly prepares for a major offensive to conquer Gaza City, following a weekend of intense strikes that Palestinian media claim killed at least 34 people on Saturday alone. The escalating conflict has led to preparations for mass evacuations, with the European Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis being renovated to accommodate an expected influx of displaced civilians.
Reports from Palestinian media indicate that Saturday’s casualties included six people killed while waiting for aid in northern Gaza and multiple others in drone strikes across Khan Younis and al-Sabra. Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis stated that Israeli strikes in southern Gaza killed at least 14 people, predominantly women and children, targeting tents sheltering displaced individuals. The IDF has acknowledged firing warning shots at aid distribution sites but disputes death tolls, which remain unverified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The impending offensive has triggered widespread international concern, with governments and humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), warning of dire consequences for Gaza’s already vulnerable civilian population. MSF noted a significant increase in airstrikes since early August, exacerbating a severe malnutrition crisis amid the 22-month conflict. Appeals for a truce from grieving relatives underscore the desperate humanitarian situation on the ground.
Israeli authorities had previously warned medical facilities in northern Gaza to prepare for mass evacuations and to move equipment south. The European Hospital, which had been closed after an IDF raid on a Hamas tunnel underneath it, is now being reactivated to serve as a critical medical response for the estimated one million Palestinians expected to be displaced from Gaza City.
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