Gaza City under ‘heaviest wave’ of Israeli attacks since war began

The Israeli army is mobilising near the heart of Gaza City, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians onto coastal roads in a bid to drive them out of the Strip’s main urban centre, amid what our correspondent on the ground reports is “the heaviest wave” of Israeli attacks on the city since the war began.
People in besieged Gaza City tell Al Jazeera about nonstop attacks, including strikes by drones and fighter jets and blasts from remote-controlled robots, with the Israeli military blowing up entire neighbourhoods as it advances.
Turkiye will never give Israel coveted ancient stone: Erdogan
The Turkish president has said that the Biblical-era ancient inscription was found in a tunnel beneath Jerusalem during Ottoman times.

He was referring to the so-called Siloam or Silwan inscription, a Hebrew tablet dating back 2,700 years, which is currently held in Istanbul’s archaeology museum.

The issue sparked a new bout of diplomatic sparring on Monday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recounted how his efforts to retrieve the artefact in 1998 were rebuffed by Ankara.

Erdogan on Friday accused Netanyahu of “spewing hatred” at Turkiye “for not returning the Silwan inscription, a legacy of our ancestors”.

“Jerusalem is the honour, dignity and glory of all humanity and all Muslims … yet he shamelessly continues to pursue the inscription: we won’t give you that inscription, let alone a single pebble from Jerusalem,” he said.

The inscription was discovered in the late 19th century inside the Siloam tunnel, an ancient aqueduct underneath Jerusalem.

The limestone tablet, which describes how the tunnel was built, was found in 1880 when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire and taken to Constantinople, now Istanbul, where it has remained ever since.

For Israel, the inscription is a key element of historical proof demonstrating Jewish presence in Jerusalem that it has wanted to obtain for years.

Gaza City under ‘heaviest wave’ of Israeli attacks since war began
Gaza City is under the heaviest wave of Israeli attacks since the war began.

This current military operation is completely destroying entire blocks, and there are still families who are trapped under the debris of the targeted houses, particularly in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood.

We’ve got reports confirming that three civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a residential house in Tal al-Hawa, close to the Netzarim Corridor – a key direction that the Israeli military has been following to encircle the entire city.

We are also receiving updates from Gaza’s Health Ministry confirming that 36 Palestinians have been killed since dawn today – 19 of them in Gaza City.

Also, distressing images are coming out of the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Israeli quadcopter drones dropping grenades in the courtyards of UN-run shelters.