JERUSALEM/CAIRO:
Israel’s military stepped up armed operations around Gaza City on Friday, ending temporary pauses there that had allowed for aid deliveries, as it announced the recovery of the body of Ilan Weiss, a hostage seized by Hamas.
Israel is pushing ahead with a plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, despite a global outcry over starvation in the besieged enclave. The assault on Gaza City has gradually intensified over the past week as Israel has urged civilians to leave for the south of the enclave.
“The local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone,” the Israeli military’s spokesman Avichay Adraee said. The military was operating with great intensity on the outskirts of Gaza City and would “deepen our strikes”.
Israel announced daily 10-hour tactical pauses in fighting across the enclave and new aid corridors in late July, after months of severely restricted humanitarian deliveries as images of emaciated children drew international criticism.
Last week the global hunger monitor that works with the United Nations and major aid agencies said it had determined there was famine in Gaza. Five people, including two children, died from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza over the previous 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Friday.
Israeli fire across the besieged Palestinian enclave killed 48 people on Friday, local health authorities said. Israel’s military claimed it had killed Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Zubaida, describing him as Gaza’s most senior ISIS operative.
Israeli soldiers recovered the body of Weiss as well as the remains of a second individual. Weiss, in his mid-fifties, was a member of an emergency response team in a kibbutz attacked by the fighters, the military said.
An Israeli military official said Weiss was killed on the day of the initial Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 and taken from his home by Hamas fighters. His death was determined on December 3, 2023, the official said.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials. They also include 322 deaths from starvation since the start of the war, the vast majority in the last few weeks.
