The Israeli military pressed operations around Gaza City on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump prepared to host a White House meeting on post-war plans for the shattered Palestinian territory.
Israel is under mounting pressure both at home and abroad to end its almost two-year campaign in Gaza, where the military is preparing to conquer the territory’s largest city and the United Nations has declared a famine.
Mediators have circulated a draft ceasefire and deal to release captives which has been accepted by the Palestinian group Hamas. But Israel has yet to give an official response.
The army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X that the evacuation of Gaza’s largest city was “inevitable”.
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during the war, and aid groups working in the territory consider the plan unrealistic and dangerous.
The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory.
Residents of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood spoke of heavy Israeli bombardment overnight.
“Warplanes struck several times, and drones fired throughout the night,” said Tala al Khatib.
“Several homes in Zeitoun were blown up. We are still in our house - some neighbours have fled, while others remain. But wherever you flee, death follows you,” she said.
Abdel Hamid al Sayfi, 62, said he hadn’t gone outdoors since Tuesday afternoon. “Whoever steps outside is fired upon by the drones,” he said by telephone.
“My phone battery is about to die, and once it does, we will lose all contact. Our fate is unknown.”
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the US president would host top officials at the White House on Wednesday to thrash out a detailed plan for post-war Gaza.
“We’ve got a large meeting in the White House tomorrow, chaired by the president, and it’s a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together on the next day,” Witkoff said on Fox News, without offering more details. — AFP
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