Israel Says Its Forces Surround Gaza City

The Israeli military said on Thursday it has completely surrounded Gaza City. An army spokesman said a ceasefire is “not on the table” despite international pressure.

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Army spokesman Daniel Hagari was quoted by local media as saying that "the concept of ceasefire is absolutely not on the table: the IDF is waging a war to dismantle Hamas."

The spokesman also commented on the military activities of the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthis against Israeli territory. Hagari said that "they are trying to distract us from focusing on Gaza." 

The Israeli military has said they are attacking Hamas outposts, headquarters and infrastructure and eliminating the group militants in face-to-face fighting.

For his part, Abu Obaida, the spokesman for Hamas Qassam Brigades armed wing, said its fighters have attacked Israeli forces using "anti-armour missiles, direct clashes, and [by] dropping bombs from drones."

In recent days, Gaza has suffered very violent clashes, in addition to the constant heavy bombardment from land, air and sea, which intensifies at night.

According to Al Jazeera news agency, Israel has surrounded Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip from the northwest of Gaza, where the Al Shati refugee camp is located, and the southwest, where the Al Quds hospital is located.

Youmna ElSayed, a correspondent from Gaza City, said many civilian cars have been shot at as they’re trying to evacuate from the north of Gaza or from Gaza City to the south.

Israeli military forces are always shooting at cars trying to reach Salah Eldeen Street [one of the two main roads to the south], while tanks are closing in trying to reach al-Rashid Street [the other main road to the south].

Youmna ElSayed added that there are thousands of people who had returned to the northern Strip and to Gaza City itself, and there are thousands that did not evacuate.

Israel Bombs Four UN Schools Sheltering Displaced Persons

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that the bombings in the last 24 hours against four of its schools being used as shelters in the Gaza Strip had killed 23 people.

The organization's Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the attacks targeted a school at the Jabalia refugee camp, reportedly killing at least 20 people and injuring five, another school at Beach refugee camp in the north of Gaza, with one child reportedly killed, as well as two schools in Al Bureij refugee camp, with two people reportedly killed and 31 injured. 

Nearly 20,000 people were housed in UN facilities hit today. According to UNRWA, "Since the start of the war on October 7, nearly 50 UNRWA buildings and assets have been hit, some of them directly."

Lazzarini said the organization "is currently hosting some 700,000 people. Twenty-five of these shelters are in northern Gaza, hosting 112,000 people."

With 27 days having passed since the start of the recent escalation between Israel and Hamas, more than 9,000 people have been killed and 32,000 injured in Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday. 

The fatalities include 3,760 children, 2,326 women (representing 70% of those killed in Gaza) and 135 health professionals.