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Airstrikes pounded the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing dozens of people, health officials said, as Israel reaffirmed its plans to capture more land in the enclave and force all two million Gaza residents to live in the south. <\/p>\n
The single deadliest bombing hit near a popular cafe in Gaza City where young people gathered to use the internet, killing 33, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry. Hospitals across the Gaza Strip reported casualties caused by other airstrikes throughout the day, said a ministry official, Zaher Al-Wuhaidi. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the target of the attack.<\/p>\n
The renewed violence came after Israel announced earlier this week that it was calling up tens of thousands of military reservists to enact the expansion of the war. Israeli leaders say they hope that the campaign will pressure Hamas to compromise in stalled cease-fire negotiations, and release the hostages it still holds in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In Gaza City, bodies of young men were strewn outside the cafe as women looked on in horror, according to a New York Times photographer at the scene. One mourner outside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, clutching his head in agony, wore a sweatshirt that read, \u201cBe nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
One hospital was unable to accommodate the high number of casualties, Dr. Munir al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, said. The strike strained <\/span>an already overwhelmed health sector in the Gaza Strip. Health officials said 59 people were killed across the enclave on Wednesday. Their tolls do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.<\/p>\n Video obtained by the Reuters news agency showed people running while carrying stretchers with the wounded. A donkey was seen moving in a pool of blood on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither the people nor the animals were safe, neither the young nor the old, as you can see,\u201d said Ahmed al-Saoudi, an eyewitness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEnough, enough of the bloodshed happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Compounding Gazans\u2019 misery is a dire humanitarian situation. Hunger in Gaza has soared<\/a> since Israel imposed a blockade on aid supplies in March, prompting the United Nations to warn this week<\/a> of a \u201cgrowing humanitarian catastrophe.\u201d Israel has argued that its blockade is lawful, and that Gaza still has enough available provisions.<\/p>\n Speaking to Israeli forces, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the displacement of Gazans \u2014 many of whom had only recently been allowed back into their homes in northern Gaza \u2014 would protect Israeli forces \u201cagainst all types of threats.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He described it as part of a new military offensive that would begin after President Trump\u2019s visit to the Middle East next week. Until then, he said, Hamas had \u201ca window of opportunity\u201d to agree to new cease-fire negotiations and release Israeli hostages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe entire Gazan population will be evacuated to areas in southern Gaza, while creating a distinction between them and Hamas terrorists,\u201d Mr. Katz said. \u201cUnlike in the past, the I.D.F. will remain in any territory that is conquered, to prevent the return of terrorism and to purge and thwart any threat.\u201d<\/p>\n A Hamas spokesman, Bassem Naim, accused Israel of trying to force negotiations \u201cthrough tactics of starvation, continued genocide, and threats to escalate military operations\u201d \u2014 but not with assurances of ending the 18-month war. \u201cSuch attempts will not succeed in breaking the will of our people or their resistance,\u201d Mr. Naim said.<\/p>\n Even before Mr. Katz\u2019s announcement, the plans<\/a> to force out people in northern Gaza had prompted a new wave of despair among Palestinian civilians in the territory, many of whom have already been displaced several times since the war began.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to even hear the word \u2018evacuation\u2019 again,\u201d said Anees Jneed, 31, a displaced Palestinian living in a makeshift shelter in northern Gaza. Mr. Jneed said his family had already been displaced at least six times since the war began in October 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cDisplacement means death, humiliation, homelessness,\u201d Mr. Jneed added.<\/p>\n Mr. Jneed is likely to be among the first affected by Israel\u2019s plan to capture large sections of Gaza and force those living there to move south. The Israeli authorities said on Monday that they were calling up tens of thousands of military reservists to enact the expansion of the war. Israeli leaders say they hope that the campaign will pressure Hamas to compromise in stalled cease-fire negotiations, and release the hostages it still holds in Gaza.<\/p>\n All of this has contributed to a deeper sense of gloom among Gazan civilians. Wafa al-Ghouty, 35, an accountant and mother of five, said she had been displaced seven times since the start of the war. She is now sheltering in a tent in a coastal area of southern Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe situation is extremely challenging, not just because of the repeated displacement, but because of the hunger and the helplessness of not being able to provide even a loaf of bread,\u201d Ms. al-Ghouty said in an interview. \u201cEvery time we settle, we are forced to move again.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Al-Ghouty said she planned to cook her last bag of pasta within 24 hours. \u201cSometimes we\u2019re so focused on surviving \u2014 finding food and medicine for the children \u2014 that we miss the news,\u201d she said. \u201cBut this announcement hit like a thunderbolt.\u201d She said she had already packed a small bag with her children\u2019s clothes and key documents, bracing for what may come next.<\/p>\n