In a sign of growing despair with the conditions in Gaza, residents made a rare protest against war on Thursday.
Hundreds of people gathered in the city of Gaza in a march organized by several civilian unions, carrying tracks with the words “Save Gaza, enough” and “Gaza is dying for killing, hunger and oppression.”
“This is a clear message: the words have run out and the time has come to act to interrupt military operations, to end genocide against our people and to stop the massacres that occur daily,” said Palestinian journalist Tawfik Abu Jarad during the protest.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that at least 70 people were killed by Israeli shots at Enclave in the last 24 hours, including eight people in a house in the suburb of Sabra, in the city of Gaza.
A statement by the Palestinian movement Fatah said one of the dead in Sabra was a Fatah leader and former family man, along with seven members of his family. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli Armed Forces.
Even with military preparations to launch the attack on the city of Gaza, Israeli authorities indicated that there is still time for a ceasefire to be reached.
On Wednesday (20), the army summoned 60,000 reservists, a sign that the government is advancing with the plan, despite the international conviction. Such a call should take weeks.
Netanyahu is under pressure from some members of his coalition ultra-right to reject a temporary ceasefire and instead continue the war and seek the annexation of the territory.
Some Palestinian families in the city of Gaza have gone to shelters along the coast, while others moved to the center and southern territory, according to reports from residents.
“We are facing a bitter, bitter situation: to die at home or go out and die elsewhere. While this war continues, survival is uncertain,” said Rabah Abu Elias, 67, father of seven children.
“In the news, they talk about a possible truce, but on the spot, we only hear explosions and see deaths. Leaving the city of Gaza or not, it’s not an easy decision to make,” he told Reuters by phone.
On Thursday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in X that the army had begun to do what he called the initial warning calls for medical and international organizations operating in northern Gaza, stating that residents of the city of Gaza should start preparing to get out of town and south.
Adraee shared a recording of what, according to him, would be an Israeli officer telling an employee of the Ministry of Health of Gaza that hospitals in southern Gaza should also prepare to receive patients from medical facilities in the North, who will be forced to evacuate.
