GAZA CITY: The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighbourhoods of northern Gaza, as it pressed a renewed offensive that has drawn international condemnation.

Meanwhile, Gaza rescuers said that the ongoing Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people on Thursday as smoke was observed plummeting over the northern Gaza Strip.

The latest evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City and neighbouring areas came hours after the United Nations said it had begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza — the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2.

Under global pressure to lift the blockade and halt a newly expanded offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire”, but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring all of Gaza under its control.

At least 50 killed in fresh strikes

In an Arabic-language statement on Thursday, the military said it was acting “with intense force” in 14 areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp.

A map posted alongside the warning showed a swath of territory marked in red, with the army accusing “terrorist organisations” of operating there and urging civilians to move south. The army issued a similar evacuation call for northern Gaza late on Wednesday.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million have been displaced at least once during the conflict.

After Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations “collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza”, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.

In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet “urgent humanitarian needs”.

Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as “unbearable”. “No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven’t received anything,” she said. “We barely manage to prepare one meal a day.”

UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis. “I am tormented for my children,” Hossam Abu Aida, another resident of the Gaza Strip, said. “For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment,” the 38-year-old added.

‘Complex reality’

The army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to eradicate Hamas from the face of the Earth. Israel has faced mounting pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into Gaza.

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to review the bloc’s cooperation accord with Israel. Israel’s foreign ministry has said the EU action “reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing”.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2025