Latest update March 26th, 2026 7:55 AM
Israel threatens all staying in Gaza City, kills at least 53 in enclave
Israeli Defence Minister Katz says anyone who stays in Gaza City will be considered ‘terrorists and terror supporters’
A Palestinian girl sits amid debris at a United Nations school where displaced people were taking shelter, after it was bombed by Israel in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City, on October 1, 2025 Ebrahim Hajjaj/Reuters]
Aljazeera – At least 53 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn across Gaza as Israel threatened tens of thousands remaining in Gaza City with a forced order to leave, saying it was their “last opportunity” to flee or face the “full force” of Israel’s assault.
Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday that anyone who stayed would be considered “terrorists and terror supporters”.
The continuous bombardment of Gaza City has razed the territory’s largest urban centre, killing dozens of people daily, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to an unknown fate to the south, often targeted on the way.
Reporting from the al-Rashid road on Thursday, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the Israeli military was ordering people to leave, then chasing them on the coastal route south with military choppers, drones and tanks, creating “mayhem and panic”.
“A big part of the reason that people are not now leaving Gaza City is because of the fear and the intimidation created by the Israeli military,” he said.
At least 10 people were killed in Gaza City. Among those Palestinians also killed on Thursday were 13 aid seekers in the southern Gaza Strip. The total number of victims attacked while desperately seeking food during the Israeli-induced famine is now nearly 2, 600 killed with close to 19,000 injured.
The overall toll from Israel’s genocidal war has risen to 66,225 killed and 168,938 injuries since October 7, 2023, sources have told Al Jazeera. The toll since Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire in March now stands at 13,357 killed and 56,897 injured.
Also on Thursday, a child was killed by Israeli drone fire in the Ansar area, west of Gaza City, according to emergency and ambulance services.
Nine people were killed and 13 were injured due to Israel’s targeting of displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
A Palestinian and his wife were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Another Palestinian was killed and more than 10 were injured in an Israeli drone attack south of Deir el-Balah. In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, eight people were injured when an Israeli drone bombed a tent for displaced people inside the Al-Aqsa University campus in the al-Mawasi area, west of the city, which Israel has repeatedly targeted despite declaring it a “safe zone”.
Despite the relentless Israeli carpet bombing of Gaza City, aimed at forcing civilians to flee south, some are making the dangerous choice to return to the north. Thousands of Palestinians have been forced by Israeli bombardment to flee from the north to the south on this perilous route.
On Wednesday, the Gaza Government Media Office said that the Israeli military had shut al-Rashid Street, which it described as “one of the vital arteries that civilians rely on for travel between Gaza’s governorates”.
As a result of the escalating hostilities, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday that it had temporarily suspended operations in Gaza City, just as the NGO Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF) did last week.
“The ICRC will continue to strive to provide support to civilians in Gaza City, whenever circumstances allow, from our offices in Deir el-Balah and Rafah, which remain fully operational,” it said in a statement.
In the meantime, Hamas continues to deliberate over a United States ceasefire plan to end Israel’s two-year war. Their acceptance of terms viewed as mostly favourable to Israel’s stated goals remains uncertain.
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