Cairo (AP) – dozens of Palestinians, many pushing cars with belongings or carrying their possessions on the back, fled from Gaza City on Saturday when Israel intensified their offensive, including attacks that, according to health authorities, killed at least 14 people during the night.
Later in Israel, Miles joined the families of hostages still held by Hamas to demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiate the end of the war.
There were protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where a huge black banner was deployed, imploring US President Donald Trump to help end the war, with the word “Save them!” In yellow letters.
The most recent military attacks occur at a time when some prominent western countries prepare to recognize a Palestinian State at the meeting of world leaders in the United Nations General Assembly next week. These include the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg.
In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal indicated that its recognition will arrive on Sunday. Lisbon had already announced his plans to do so, but now he set an official date.
The last Israeli operation, which began this week, has even more a conflict that has shaken the Middle East and probably further away any possibility of a high fire. The Israeli army, who claims to “destroy Hamas’s military infrastructure” and has urged the Palestinian population to leave, has not given a calendar for the offensive, but there are indications that it could last months.
In the last 23 months, Israeli bombings have killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, raised vast areas of the enclave, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, of which experts have denounced that Ciudad de Gaza suffers from a famine.
Relatives of the hospital director among the dead
The doctor Rami Mhanna, general director of the Shifa hospital, to which some of the bodies were transferred, said that among the fatal victims there were six members of the same family, whose house was hit in an attack early on Saturday. They were relatives of the center director, doctor Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he added.
The Palestinian red crescent reported that five other people died in another operation near Shawa Square.
Israel’s army said he could not comment on specific attacks without more information, but that he was “operating to dismantle the military capabilities of Hamas” and “take feasible precautions to mitigate the damage to civilians.”
Palestinians flee again
Israel has urged hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who take refuge in Ciudad de Gaza to leave south to what qualifies as a humanitarian zone and enabled another corridor to the south of the city for two days of this week to allow the departure of more people.
The Palestinians have abandoned the city in mass – some car and others on foot. But many in the city whipped by the famine are not willing to move again, they are too weak to leave or cannot pay for the cost of the move.
Throughout the coastal route of Wadi Gaza, those too exhausted to continue stopped to recover their breath and give their children a very necessary rest of the difficult trip.
“There is no water, electricity or the Internet. People are forced to leave with nothing,” said Seif Abu Oomsan. “They attack us with things that would not imagine, like science fiction. They attack us with missiles that we had never heard.”
“We head towards the unknown. No one knows where it is going,” added Faris Swafiri.
Humanitarian organizations have warned that forcing thousands of people to leave will worsen the serious humanitarian crisis, and claimed a fire so that help can reach those who need it in the enclave.
Rehenes relatives lift the voice
Hostage families still held by Hamas accused Netanyahu on Saturday of condemning their loved ones to death by continuing the fight instead of negotiating the end of the war.
“The blood of our loved ones is, for him, nothing more than a political tool to hold on to power,” they said in a statement read in front of Netanyahu’s residence. “As long as there is war, Netanyahu has a government.”
Hanna Cohen, whose niece Inbar Hayman was kidnapped and murdered in captivity and whose remains are still in Gaza, said: “It is difficult to believe that another Rosh Hashaná (Jewish New Year) is arriving and our Inbar is not with us.
“There is no greater pain than that of parents who lose a child in such a cruel way and do not even have a grave to visit,” he said.
Speaking in the protest of Jerusalem, the hostage released iair Horn asked: “What kind of country will we be if we abandon ours? What happens to our nation if we are willing to sacrifice hostages?”
Forty -eight hostages remain in Gaza, and it is believed that less than half are still alive. Insurgents led by Hamas assaulted southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 251.
For his part, an Israeli-American who was hostage in Gaza for 584 days before being released in May said he will return to Israeli military service next month. Edan Alexander, 21, was kidnapped by Hamas from a base near the border with Gaza and was the last living Israeli liberated from captivity.
“We can’t forget them,” he said Friday. “We can’t stop until everyone is at home.”
They steal unicef trucks
On Friday, UNICEF reported the theft of therapeutic foods aimed at saving the lives of thousands of children in Gaza from four of their trucks. Armed individuals approached vehicles outside their facilities in Gaza City and drivers were held at a gunpoint when they took the food, said the UN agency in a statement.
“They were destined to treat malnourished children in Gaza City, where a famine has been declared … It was a shipment that saved lives amid the severe restrictions on the delivery of help,” said Ammar Ammar, spokesman for UNICEF.
In a statement on Friday, Israel’s army blamed Hamas for food theft.
Israel accuses Hamas of diverting help and using it to finance its military activity, without providing evidence. The UN argues that there are mechanisms in preventing any significant deviation of help.
The number of deaths in Gaza since the insurgent attack of October 7, 2023 that caused the war has exceeded 65,100, according to its Ministry of Health, which is part of the government led by the Islamist group. The count does not distinguish between civil and combatant victims. Both the UN and many independent experts consider that its figures are a reliable estimate.
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The Associated Press Renata Brito journalist contributed to this office from Barcelona.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
This article was published by Samy Magdy on 2025-09-20 07:50:00
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