SAEDNEWS: Israel has declared that anyone remaining in Gaza City will be treated as a “terrorist or terror supporter,” as heavy bombardment continues to devastate the enclave. At least 17 Palestinians have been killed in the latest wave of attacks, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe.
According to SAEDNEWS, Gaza City has once again been plunged into chaos as Israel intensifies its military campaign, issuing what it describes as a final ultimatum to tens of thousands of civilians who still remain in the shattered urban center. In a chilling statement posted on X, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that those who refuse to leave will be considered “terrorists and terror supporters,” effectively criminalizing ordinary residents trapped by relentless bombardment and fear.
The results of this policy are already being felt. Since dawn on Thursday, at least 17 Palestinians have been killed in strikes that ripped through homes, schools, and shelters across the enclave. Among the dead are children and families who had sought refuge in makeshift shelters, only to find themselves targeted once more. In the Zeitoun neighborhood, a United Nations school filled with displaced families was reduced to rubble in the middle of the night. Images from the scene show a young Palestinian girl sitting amid the debris, embodying the despair of a population under siege.
Al Jazeera’s reporting from al-Rashid road paints a harrowing picture. Civilians who attempt to flee south under Israeli orders often find themselves pursued by drones, helicopters, and tanks. Instead of safe passage, the journey becomes a gauntlet of terror, with bombardments following them on the very routes they are told to take. Journalists describe “mayhem and panic,” with many Palestinians too frightened to move, calculating that staying put may be no more dangerous than risking the road.
The toll of the strikes extends far beyond Gaza City itself. In the central Gaza Strip, nine people were killed and more than a dozen injured when Israel targeted a group of displaced people. In al-Bureij refugee camp, a man and his wife were killed when their house was hit by a drone strike. South of Deir el-Balah, one more Palestinian was killed and ten injured in a separate attack. Even so-called “safe zones” have offered little protection. In Khan Younis, Israeli drones bombed tents for displaced families inside the Al-Aqsa University campus in al-Mawasi, injuring at least eight. Israel has repeatedly attacked al-Mawasi despite its own designation of the area as a refuge for civilians.
Despite the devastation, not all are fleeing south. Some families, faced with unbearable conditions, are making the dangerous choice to return northward. They know the risks, yet the promise of safety in the south has proven hollow, as Israeli bombs fall even in areas designated as humanitarian corridors. On Wednesday, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that Israeli forces had shut al-Rashid Street, one of the last remaining vital arteries connecting Gaza’s governorates, further trapping civilians in an impossible situation.
The destruction is not only physical but also humanitarian. The International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it has suspended its operations in Gaza City due to escalating violence, following a similar decision by Doctors Without Borders just last week. Both organizations stressed that they will continue working from Rafah and Deir el-Balah, but their withdrawal underscores the extreme difficulty of providing aid under current conditions.
All of this unfolds as Hamas weighs a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal. While the plan appears tilted toward Israel’s strategic objectives, its potential acceptance or rejection could determine whether the bloodshed continues or pauses. For now, however, the bombs fall without pause, and civilians remain caught in the crossfire of a war that has already erased much of Gaza’s largest city.
The message from Israel is stark and unforgiving: leave or be destroyed. Yet for countless Palestinians, the order is a cruel impossibility. With every road south turned into a battlefield, and every so-called safe zone struck without warning, the people of Gaza City are left to navigate a deadly landscape where survival itself is an act of defiance.
