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<h1 class="gmail-">Israel intensifies assault to wipe Gaza City
'off the map'</h1>
<p class="gmail-">Israel launched a media campaign claiming
enough food is entering Gaza, even as the number of
Palestinians starving to death continues to grow</p>
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<p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9"
style="color:rgb(164,4,4)" moz-do-not-send="true">News
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<p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">AUG 16, 2025 -<font
size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a
href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-intensifies-assault-to-wipe-gaza-city-off-the-map"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-intensifies-assault-to-wipe-gaza-city-off-the-map</a></font></p>
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<div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img
src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/5dc9aa04-7a95-11f0-9b7a-00163e02c055.jpeg"
alt="" width="437" height="246" style="margin-right: 0px;"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span>(Photo credit: France 24/ Noga
TARNOPOLSKY)</span></div>
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<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Israeli
forces have intensified their assault on two
neighborhoods east of Gaza City, unleashing what
residents describe as relentless bombardment that
has left much of the area in ruins. The offensive is
part of Israel\u2019s newly approved plan to capture the
entire city and forcibly expel its residents.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Relentless
Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling in recent
days have targeted the Al-Zaytoun and Sabra
neighborhoods, which lie just east of Gaza City, <i>Al
Jazeera\u2019s</i> Hind Khoury </span><a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/8/16/live-israel-kills-at-least-1760-people-seeking-aid-in-gaza-since-may-un?update=3891604"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">reported</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> on 16 August.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThere
have been endless Israeli air strikes and artillery
shelling, and continuous bombardment. People are
saying the explosions do not stop. Al-Zaytoun
neighbourhood is being wiped off the map,\u201d Khoury
stated.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Israeli
bombing is destroying houses, schools, public
facilities, and government buildings.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cEverything
in Al-Zaytoun is being destroyed,\u201d Khoury added.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Amid the
heavy bombing and forced evacuation orders issued by
the Israeli military, thousands of Palestinian
families have been displaced, while others are
remaining in their homes for fear they will be
targeted if they flee. </span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Gaza Civil
Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal </span><a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/15/israel-targets-emergency-workers-trying-to-help-people-trapped-in-gaza-city"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">reported</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> that Israeli
quadcopters had dropped leaflets demanding residents
to leave sections of Al-Zaytoun, where hundreds of
homes have recently been destroyed.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Basal
added that Israeli troops had fired at ambulances
trying to reach the wounded in Al-Zaytoun.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
Israeli military </span><a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-fresh-offensive-on-gaza-city-outskirts-idf-says-dozens-of-terror-targets-destroyed/"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">announced</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> on Friday that
it destroyed dozens of \u201cterror targets\u201d during the
offensive and that its ground troops were involved
in the campaign.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cOver the
past few days, IDF troops have been operating in the
Al-Zaytoun area, on the outskirts of Gaza City,\u201d
said a statement released by the Israeli military.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Gaza City
resident Omar Hamad </span><a
href="https://x.com/OmarHamadD/status/1956450375705534805"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">wrote</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> on X that
after two days of relentless shelling, Israeli
troops advancing from eastern Gaza have now reached
Street 8 in the Tal al-Hawa area, just two
kilometers from the sea and only half a kilometer
from his home.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThe
army\u2019s entry into central Gaza is to turn it into a
pile of sand \u2013 just as it did in Beit Hanoun and
Rafah \u2013 not to \u2018control\u2019 it as it claims,\u201d Hamad
stated. </span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cFor the
past two days, the shelling and destruction of homes
have not stopped for even a single moment. I don\u2019t
know why I am telling you this, but the situation is
truly terrifying beyond measure. There has not been
a worse stage than this since the beginning of the
genocide. All of this is happening while people have
been sedated with food after months of famine. Every
move Israel makes is for a reason \u2013 and to begin a
new type of genocide.\u201d</span></p>
<span></span>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Israel\u2019s
brutal assault on the eastern sections of Gaza City
has been accompanied by a new media campaign seeking
to obscure Israel\u2019s efforts to starve Palestinians
in Gaza.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">On Friday,
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel led a
tour at the Kerem Shalom crossing for dozens of
foreign ambassadors, telling them that
\u201cunprecedented amounts of humanitarian aid\u201d are
entering Gaza.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cSee the
facts for yourselves. There is food in Gaza!\u201d </span><a
href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1956372493872046406"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">stated</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> Israel\u2019s
Foreign Ministry in a post on X promoting the tour.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">Meanwhile,
the number of Palestinians who have died in the
strip from starvation under Israel\u2019s siege has
reached 240, including 107 children, according to
Gaza's Health Ministry.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">COGAT, the
Israeli army organization responsible for civilian
affairs in Gaza, </span><a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/15/israel-targets-emergency-workers-trying-to-help-people-trapped-in-gaza-city"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">claimed</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> Thursday that
it allowed 310 aid trucks to enter Gaza. The number
was far short of the 500 to 600 the UN says are
needed daily, on an ongoing basis, to avoid starving
the population.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:transparent">In
addition to ensuring that not enough aid reaches
Gaza, Israel has </span><a
href="https://thecradle.co/articles/yasser-abu-shabab-israels-agent-of-chaos-in-gaza"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="background-color:transparent">covertly
armed</span></a><span
style="background-color:transparent"> Palestinian
clans and protected them as they loot aid trucks
entering the strip, while blaming the looting on
Hamas.</span></p>
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