The Israeli government has selected the symbolically significant date of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year marking the biblical creation of Adam and Eve, to launch its assault on Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza City. The holiday falls on September 22 this year.
According to a ‘qualified’ source on public broadcaster Kan, the Jerusalem executive is pressuring military leadership to meet this deadline. The source, believed to be close to cabinet ministers, stated that most humanitarian infrastructure in the south of the Strip is prepared to receive the 800,000 to one million people slated for evacuation from Gaza City. For days, residents have been fleeing the urban area as Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) raids on the city’s periphery have intensified.
Sources within the enclave report a high number of departures, though Israeli estimates put the figure at only 10,000. The Red Cross has warned a safe and dignified mass evacuation is “impossible” under current conditions, according to its president, Mirjana Spoljaric. To further push civilians south, Kan reported that aerial humanitarian aid drops over Gaza City will be halted and the number of aid trucks allowed into northern Gaza will be reduced in the coming days.
Hamas militiamen have launched a counter-campaign to prevent residents from leaving, claiming there is no room in the south—a tactic seemingly aimed at using civilians as human shields. The Hamas Health Ministry reported that 15 people were killed and 206 wounded while seeking aid in the last 24 hours, and a further 10 civilians, including three children, died from malnutrition. These fatalities are part of 66 Palestinians the ministry says were killed in Israeli raids between Friday and Saturday.
Just before the end of Shabbat, the Israeli Air Force and internal security agency Shin Bet targeted the al-Bassoo building in Gaza City in an attempt to eliminate a high-ranking Hamas official. The organization later condemned the strike, which was aimed at Abu Obeida, the notorious and powerful spokesman for Hamas’s military wing. Gaza sources reported seven people in the building were killed; the fate of Abu Obeida remains unclear. Hamas stated the strike hit a residential building, causing dozens of casualties. Another source claimed 11 people were hit while queuing at a bakery, though accounts remain unverified. The IDF stated it used precision weaponry to avoid civilian harm.
In a statement on Friday, Abu Obeida—who was previously targeted in a failed IDF raid in May—claimed the army’s plans to capture Gaza City “endanger the lives of the hostages,” and that responsibility for their fate falls on the Israeli government and IDF.
In Tel Aviv, thousands protested to demand the government accept a deal for the hostages’ release. The demonstrations erupted after Israeli news reports indicated the issue would not be on the agenda for tomorrow’s security cabinet meeting. This is despite Israeli military and security chiefs reportedly presenting a united front, urging ministers to accept the current proposed truce and hostage release deal and forgo the offensive. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called the decision “further proof that the Netanyahu government is resorting to perpetual war by sacrificing the hostages.”