• Nearly half million flee the enclave; displaced Palestinians panic
• US has spoken with Gulf states about post-war Gaza administration, says envoy

GAZA CITY: Israel’s military said it had expanded operations in Gaza City on Friday, bombarding what it termed “Hamas infrastructure”, while displaced Palestinians traumatised by the advance said they had no means to flee.

“The situation is really bad. All night long, the tank was firing shells,” said Palestinian Toufic Abu Mouawad, who left a camp for displaced people, with nowhere else to go.

“I want to flee with the boys, the girls, the children. This is the situation that we are living in. It is a very tragic situation. We call on all the Arab countries and the people who have a good conscience to stand with us.”

Israeli forces control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs and in recent days have been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas.

Israeli fire killed at least 33 people across the territory on Friday, 18 of them in Gaza City, according to a tally of figures given by Gaza hospitals contacted by AFP. The Gaza health authorities confirmed the death toll.

The Israeli military warned it would operate with “unprecedented force” in Gaza City, telling residents to flee as it presses its ground offensive on the territory’s largest urban centre.

The military on Friday said it estimated 480,000 of people have fled Gaza City since late August. On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it believed 350,000 people had left Gaza City since the start of September and that about 600,000 remained.

In leaflets dropped over Gaza City, the military had told Palestinians they could use the newly reopened Salah al Din road to escape to the south.

The IDF said an airstrike had killed Mahmoud Yusuf Abu Alkhir, whom it identified as the deputy head of military intelligence in Hamas Bureij Battalion.

Dozens of protesters gathered on the Israeli side of the border, calling for an end to the war. They held banners or placards with slogans that included “Stop the genocide in Gaza” and “Free Gaza, isolate Israel”.

Post-war administration

Meanwhile, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee told Reuters on Friday that the United States has held talks with Gulf Arab states about the possibility that they could administer Gaza once the war is over.

Huckabee said there had been conversations around an interim governing structure involving Gulf Arab states, potentially with the US taking on a supervisory role, with a decision on a permanent arrangement to be made later.

“It’s a discussion. It’s not something that has been accepted by the administration, by Israel, by anyone. I’m not familiar with anything that is ready for signature,” he said. Huckabee did not say when the talks took place or which Gulf states had been involved.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2025