CAIRO: Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians across Gaza on Thursday and wounded dozens in the south of the enclave, as residents reported intensified military bombardment in Gaza City.

The military is preparing to take Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban centre, despite international calls on Israel to reconsider this over fears that the operation would cause significant casualties and displace the rou­ghly one million Pale­stin­ians sheltering there.

In Khan Yunis, another hospital came under Isr­aeli fire but there were no casualties. Five journalists and 17 others were killed in a strike on the city’s Nasser Hospital on Monday.

In Gaza City, residents said families were fleeing their homes, with most heading towards the coast, as Israeli forces bomba­rded the eastern suburbs of Shejaia, Zeitoun, and Sabra. Thursday’s deaths took to 71 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since Tuesday.

Israeli officials describe Gaza City as the last str­onghold of Hamas. The Isr­­­aeli military said in a statement that it was continuing to operate thro­ughout Gaza targeting inf­r­­­­­­astructure.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross said 31 “weapon-wounded” pa­­ti­en­­­ts, most with gunshot wounds, were admitted to its field hospital in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Four of them were declared dead on arrival.

“Patients said they were injured while trying to reach food distribution sites,” the spokesperson said, adding that since the food distribution sites beg­an operations on May 27, the hospital had treated over 5,000 “weapon-woun­ded patients”.

Dozens of Palestinians were admitted to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Yunis with gunshot wou­nds.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025