Israeli tanks were today rampaging further into Gaza leaving terrified families fleeing for their lives – while fresh air strikes left up to 50 dead.
Jerusalem’s forces confirmed they had stepped up their bombardment across the entire war-torn Strip and ordered more evacuations, creating a fresh wave of those displaced from northern Gaza.
Sobbing Palestinians said they feared they would never be able to return.
Gazan health officials said up to 50 people were killed and many others wounded in Israeli air strikes, the worst on a school housing displaced families in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
As Israeli tanks advanced in Beit Lahiya, a month into a new push on northern Gaza, dozens of families streamed out, arriving at schools and other shelters in Gaza City with whatever belongings and food they could bring.
Drones hovered overhead broadcasting evacuation orders, which were also carried on social media outlets, audio and text messages sent to residents’ phones, one displaced man said.
“After they displaced most or all of the people in Jabalia, now they are bombing everywhere, killing people on the roads and inside their houses to force everyone out,” the man, giving only one name, Ahmed, for fear of repercussions.
Palestinian officials said Israel is carrying out a plan of “ethnic cleansing”. Residents said no aid has entered Jabalia, Beit Lahiya or Beit Hanoun since the operation began on October 5.
But the Israeli military said it was forced to clear Jabalia and start clearing nearby Beit Lahiya this week in order to take on Hamas militants who it says have regrouped there.
It denied reports that people evacuated from northern Gaza would not be allowed to return and said it was continuing to allow aid into northern Gaza and the Jabalia area, where it said it was engaged in “intense combat”.
“The statement attributed to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) in the past 24 hours, claiming that residents of northern Gaza will not be allowed to return to their homes, is incorrect and does not reflect the IDF’s objectives and values,” it said.
It said 300 trucks of aid from the United Arab Emirates had arrived at the port of Ashdod and would be sent into Gaza via the Erez crossing in the north and Kerem Shalom in the south.
