Panic in Gaza City as Israel advances on centre, ‘sandwiching’ population

People tally for lives from aerial strikes and explosive-laden ‘robots’, arsenic lifelines illness successful Gaza’s biggest municipality centre.

The Israeli service is pushing towards the centre of Gaza City from 2 directions, “sandwiching” residents and forcing them towards the seashore successful a bid to thrust them retired of the enclave’s biggest municipality centre.

Israeli service spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told the Reuters quality bureau connected Thursday that infantry, tanks and artillery were advancing connected the interior city, backed by the aerial force, with the purpose of applying unit connected the equipped radical Hamas.

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Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that the Israeli subject was advancing from the northwest and the southeast, “sandwiching radical successful the middle” and pushing them to the westbound of the city, wherever the al-Rashid coastal roadworthy starring southbound is located.

“The attacks connected overcrowded neighbourhoods are causing panic and fear, and pushing radical virtually to tally for their lives. We’re seeing waves of radical present doing conscionable that,” helium said, reporting from Nuseirat successful cardinal Gaza.

People successful Gaza City told Al Jazeera astir nonstop attacks, including “aerial strikes by drones and combatant jets” and detonations from remote-controlled “robots” – unmanned vehicles packed with explosives that the Israeli service has been deploying to stroke up neighbourhoods arsenic it advances inwards.

At slightest 40 radical were killed successful Gaza City connected Thursday, aesculapian sources told Al Jazeera.

Lifelines collapse

Amid the apocalyptic scenes, fleeing families faced the heartbreaking imaginable of renewed displacement successful a territory devoid of “safe zones”, lone this clip with the precise existent anticipation that they mightiness ne'er again instrumentality home.

Still, galore person stayed put. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics claimed that astir 740,000 radical – astir 35 percent of Gaza’s 2.1 cardinal colonisation – were inactive successful the northbound of the enclave arsenic of Tuesday.

However, the bureau signalled that numbers could drop, with the continuous Israeli attacks driving much radical retired and basal services disappearing.

The UN humanitarian bureau (OCHA) warned connected Thursday that Gaza City’s past lifelines were collapsing.

OCHA accused Israel of “systematically blocking” efforts to bring assistance to people, citing the closure of the Zikim crossing to Gaza’s famine-stricken northbound and bans connected definite nutrient items.

‘Blatant disregard’

Outside Gaza City, astatine slightest 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occurrence successful different parts of the enclave, according to aesculapian sources.

The Israeli subject reported that 4 of its soldiers were killed successful the aboriginal hours of the greeting successful the confederate Gaza metropolis of Rafah.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) successful Palestine denounced connected societal media Israel’s “blatant disregard” for planetary ineligible requirements to separate betwixt combatants and civilians successful its aerial attacks connected Gaza.

The Israeli strikes connected internally displaced persons, including arsenic they effort to permission Gaza metropolis oregon question structure adjacent hospitals, amusement the Israeli military's blatant disregard for the cardinal rule of distinction. Israel has demanded that Palestinian civilians permission Gaza…

— UN Human Rights Palestine (@OHCHR_Palestine) September 18, 2025

As Israel expanded its violative connected Thursday, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire successful Gaza, the lifting of restrictions connected assistance into Gaza, and the instrumentality of hostages held by Hamas.

The UK’s imperishable typical to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said that “Israel’s reckless enlargement of its subject cognition takes america further distant from a woody which could bring the hostages location and extremity the suffering successful Gaza.”