Thousands of civilians flee north Gaza as Israeli troops and Hamas fighters clash
Gaza Strip on Wednesday seeking refuge from Israeli air strikes and fierce ground fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants.
The exodus took place in a four-hour window of opportunity announced by Israel, which has told residents to evacuate the area or risk being trapped in the violence.
However, the central and southern parts of the small, besieged Palestinian enclave were also under fire as the war between its Islamist Hamas rulers and Israel entered its second month.
Palestinian health officials said an air strike that hit houses in Nusseirat refugee camp killed 18 people on Wednesday morning. In Khan Younis, six people, including a young girl, were killed in an air strike.
«We were sitting in peace when all of a sudden an F16 air strike landed on a house and blew it up, the entire block, three houses next to each other,» said a witness, Mohammed Abu Daqa.
«Civilians, all of them civilians.
An old woman, an old man and there are others still missing under the rubble.»
The Israeli military said its offensive was targeting Hamas' tunnel network beneath the enclave. Air strikes had killed a Hamas weapons maker and several fighters, it said.
Gaza City, the Hamas militant group's main stronghold in the territory, is now encircled by Israeli forces. The military said troops have advanced to the heart of the densely-populated city while Hamas says its fighters have inflicted heavy losses.
U.N.
officials and G7 nations stepped up appeals for a humanitarian pause in the hostilities to help alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza, where buildings have been flattened and basic supplies are running out.
Palestinian officials said 10,569 people have now been killed, 40% of them children. The level of death
