DEIR AL-BALAH: Israel struck a high-rise building in Gaza City on Friday after an evacuation warning, as the military stepped up operations aimed at seizing control of the famine-stricken city of some 1 million Palestinians. Strikes elsewhere in Gaza City killed at least 27 people, health officials said.
The military accused Hamas militants of using high-rises in the city for surveillance and planned ambushes, and said it would carry out “precise, targeted strikes” on militant infrastructure in the coming days.
Israel has begun mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists and is repeating evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.
Palestinians said Friday's strike targeted the Mushtaha tower in Rimal, an upscale neighborhood before the war. Gaza City resident Ahmed al-Boari said people fleeing Israeli operations elsewhere in the city had sought shelter in and around the building. Satellite imagery showed a large number of tents nearby.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was wounded or killed in the strike.
Israel said it struck the building because it was used by Hamas for surveillance. Photos of the building taken before Friday’s strike showed that its roof was already heavily damaged from earlier raids.
Israel has declared Gaza City, in the north of the territory, to be a combat zone. Parts of the city are already considered “red zones” where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting.
That has left residents on edge, including many who returned after fleeing the city in the initial stages of the war, which has already displaced around 90% of the territory's population.
The offensive has also sparked widespread protests among Israelis who fear it will endanger hostages still held in Gaza, some of whom are believed to be in Gaza City. There are 48 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.
Hamas released a propaganda video Friday of two hostages in Gaza City. The video shows Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a car, at one point joined by another hostage, Alon Ohel.
Gilboa-Dalal speaks, likely under duress, pleading for an end to the war and the return of hostages. He was last seen in a video more than six months ago with another hostage, Evyatar David, as they watched other hostages being released during a ceasefire.
Israel’s has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead.
Israeli settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Khallet A-Daba in the occupied West Bank overnight, attacking residents with clubs and pepper spray, said Palestinians who arrived at the village in the attack’s aftermath.
Video obtained from Palestinian activist Adeeb Huraini, 26, showed an older man with cuts on his head and leg, and a woman whose headscarf was soaked in blood.
Another video shows Basel Adra, a local activist, holding a baby with blood on its head, calling for help and saying there is “a lot of blood.” Adra said nine Palestinians were hospitalized after the attack.
Adra helped direct “No Other Land,” an Oscar-winning documentary about settler violence in the area. The Israeli military demolished much of the village last month.
The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups protested new U.S. sanctions aimed at Palestinian civil society, saying in a joint statement that they would inflict "severe harm on key human rights organizations that have worked for decades to protect Palestinians.”
The Trump administration on Thursday announced sanctions on three Palestinian groups — Al Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The new measures would make it harder for them to receive donations from the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was targeting the groups over their involvement with the International Criminal Court's efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute Israelis.
Last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, alleging crimes against humanity in Gaza. The United States and Israel have rejected the allegations and the U.S. has sanctioned a number of ICC judges and prosecutors.
“The U.S. is effectively punishing the very act of addressing human rights violations and abuses,” said Ammar Dwaik, head of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights. "This criminalizes accountability and sets a dangerous precedent worldwide that governments can silence investigators.”
