KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight and into Thursday as ground forces battled Hamas militants in dense urban
Israeli troops were around 3 kilometers from Shifa Hospital in the heart of downtown, the hospital’s director said. Israel has been vague on troop movements, but officials say Gaza’s largest city is the focus of their campaign to crush Hamas following its deadly Oct. 7 assault inside Israel.
The possible cease-fire deal is being brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, a Persian Gulf country that mediates with Hamas. The Israeli military says Hamas’ main command center is located in and under the hospital complex and that senior leaders are hiding there, using the facility as a shield. Hamas and hospital staff deny the claim and say the military is making a pretext to strike it.
More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began, with many heeding Israeli orders to flee to the southern part of the besieged enclave. The exodus from Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north has accelerated in recent days as people run out of food and water and flee intensified shelling and advancing Israeli forces.
The trickle of aid entering Gaza from the south is largely barred from going north, which has been without running water for weeks. The U.N. aid office said all the bakeries there have shut down for lack of fuel, water and flour. Hospitals running low on supplies are performing surgeries without anesthesia.
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