At least 57 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to Palestinian sources, Xinhua reported.
Palestinian security sources also reported Israeli raids and bombings in the early hours on residential buildings in the Sheikh Radwan and Sabra neighborhoods in Gaza City, amid intense overflights by Israeli helicopters and drones.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck “a key Hamas terrorist in the area of Gaza City,” without providing further details on the target or the specific location of the strike.
The latest attacks came a day after the Israeli army announced the start of “preliminary operations and the initial stages” of an attack on Gaza City, saying its forces are operating with “great intensity” on the city’s outskirts.
Residents leave their neighborhood with belongings in hand, northern Gaza, August 30, 2025. /VCG
Israel is pushing ahead with its plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, with the goal of destroying Hamas after nearly 23 months of war, while facing a global outcry over starvation in the besieged enclave.
Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric warned on Saturday that it would be impossible to keep people safe during a mass evacuation of Gaza City, as Israel intensifies its assault.
Israel has urged civilians to leave for the south of the Palestinian enclave. However, an evacuation would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the Gaza Strip is equipped to absorb, amid severe shortages of food, shelter, and medical supplies, Spoljaric said.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system said last week that 514,000 people – close to a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East reported that by August 30, 660,000 children had been out of school for three consecutive years.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed 63,371 people and injured 159,835 others, Gaza-based health authorities said Saturday. They said that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza have caused 332 deaths, including 124 children.
On Friday, Israel’s state-owned Kan TV News reported that Israel will stop the airdrop operation of humanitarian aid over Gaza City in the coming days, and the entry of ground aid via trucks to northern Gaza will also be reduced.
(With input from Reuters and Xinhua News Agency)
