The Israeli army has continued with its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza City, destroying entire neighbourhoods as panicked residents flee with nowhere safe to go.
The war on Gaza is now in its 700th day, and the Palestinian enclave has been utterly devastated, with most of its infrastructure destroyed, and no let-up in the attacks on civilian areas, which kill scores of people every day.
An Israeli attack on the Tal al Hawa area of Gaza City killed a family of five, among them three children, Al-Jazeera reported.
Footage of the aftermath of the attack showed residents clearing up blood-stained items, including children’s slippers.
“My children and I were sleeping in the tent when we heard the sound of bombing. Shrapnel fell on us, and my four children started screaming,” Israa al-Basous, one of the residents of the tents, told AFP.
The Israeli military is trying to displace one million people from Gaza City and its surrounding areas, with attacks happening in the Zeitoun, Sabra, Tuffah, and Nassr districts and entire neighbourhoods reportedly levelled.
At least eight people were killed as a result of the bombing of the Tuffah area, while three were killed in Zeitoun and two in Shujaeya.
A total of 44 people were killed in Gaza City alone on Thursday, while 75 people were killed in the Gaza Strip as a whole.
UNICEF’s communication manager, Tess Ingram, said that Gaza City was now a "city of fear, flight, and funerals", with people fleeing to areas to find safety only to be forcibly displaced again a few days later.
700 days since the start of the Gaza war
Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin claimed that the Israeli army now held 40 percent of the city, threatening that the "operation will expand in the coming days".
In a statement released to mark the 700th day of the Gaza war, Defrin also celebrated the killing last week of Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida.
He displayed a photograph of the spokesperson alongside two other Hamas leaders, claiming that the only one still alive was intelligence chief Mohammed Odeh and "we will get to him as well".
Hamas for its part marked the 700th day of the war by saying that it had "shown great flexibility" in trying to reach an agreement to end the war, while the Israeli army was carrying out "full-scale genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement" in the Gaza Strip, adding that the US was providing "political and military cover for the Zionist terrorist government".
Ceasefire efforts continue with little hope
Amid Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza City, Palestinian-American businessman Bashara Bahbah, US President Donald Trump’s unofficial go-between with Hamas, revealed details of a recent meeting in Washington held a few days ago regarding ending the war in Gaza.
In televised remarks, Bahbah said that "the meeting lasted six hours, and it was decided that a single, final offer would be placed on the table: the release of all captives in exchange for ending the war".
"I communicated with Hamas regarding this matter, and they showed some hesitation, because they did not know whether the offer was official or unofficial," he added.
Hamas became convinced that the offer was official after Trump made a social media post about it, Bahbah added, noting that "Hamas’s reaction was immediate...They agreed to a comprehensive deal involving handing over all captives and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners, while at the same time ending the war."
In addition, Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff met Qatari officials in Paris on Thursday to discuss efforts toward a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer also spoke with Witkoff and Qatari officials by phone. Sources however said no progress was made, largely due to Israel’s position.
Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers Israel Katz, Bezalel Smotrich, and Itamar Ben Gvir, reiterated their rejection of a comprehensive deal with Hamas, making the possibility of an end to the war soon look increasingly remote.
Hamas has already accepted a deal tabled by mediators on August 18, but Israel has made no response.
The right-wing Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported on Thursday that Israel was planning to fully "ethnically cleanse" Gaza, noting that due to the city’s size and the existence of tall buildings and large refugee camps within, that the process could take months.