Israel ramps up bombardment of Gaza City as at least 61 killed

At least 61 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Thursday, including 19 aid seekers, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as residents report intensified military bombardment of the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City.

The Israeli military has been preparing to take Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban centre, despite international calls to reconsider the move over fears that the operation would cause significant casualties and displace the roughly one million Palestinians sheltering there.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among those criticising the campaign, saying on Thursday that it “signals a new and dangerous phase” in the war.

“Expanded military operations in Gaza City will have devastating consequences. Hundreds of thousands of civilians, already exhausted and traumatised, would be forced to flee yet again, pushing families into even deeper peril,” he said, calling for accountability for the “endless catalogue of horrors”,

“This must stop,” he said, adding that the “catastrophe” in the enclave was “the result of deliberate decisions that defy basic humanity”.

In Gaza City, residents said families were fleeing their homes and most were heading towards the coast as Israeli forces bombarded the Shujayea, Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods.

No buildings remain standing in the southern part of Zeitoun as the Israeli ground operation has demolished more than 1,500 homes, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

Israeli officials have described Gaza City as the last stronghold of Hamas.