Israeli strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said, most of them in Gaza City, where many residents remain despite Israeli evacuation orders because they have nowhere to go, Reuters reported.
Israel has said it intends to take full control of the devastated city, where about a million people are taking refuge, as part of its plan to destroy the radical Palestinian group "Hamas", and is stepping up its attacks, residents said.
"The explosions have not stopped since yesterday," he said Adel, 60, a father of two who lives in Gaza City near a refugee camp, declined to give his full name to Reuters for security reasons. "Many families have left their homes and that is exactly what the occupation wants," he told the world news agency via a chat app.
"With these bombings they are telling people: 'Either leave your area or you will die there,'" Adel said.
Witnesses said at least 15 houses in the refugee camp were hit by airstrikes, and the Israeli army had called residents to tell them that strikes on their homes were imminent. Now they are trying to leave, and neighbors fear their homes will also be damaged.
Medical sources said 14 civilians were killed in a single strike on a house in the Al-Tuwam area, in the northern part of the city.
Several deadly strikes hit targets in the southern part of the territory, where some of those fleeing the bombing in Gaza City had taken refuge.
Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO Network, which liaises with the United Nations and international aid agencies, told Reuters that about 10 percent of Gaza City's residents had left the city since Israel announced its plan to take control of it a month ago.
The Israeli army said it had begun expanding the area in the southern Gaza Strip it calls "Junction 147" in order to increase the volume of aid entering the designated humanitarian zone. This is in preparation for the reception of the population leaving the northern part, the army said, reported .
"It should be emphasized that after the end of the expansion, the capacity of the crossing point will increase to 150 trucks per day – "three times more than the current one, which will allow a greater flow of aid, with an emphasis on food products," the army said in a statement.
The United Nations and many foreign governments, including those of countries traditionally allied with Israel, condemned the order to evacuate Gaza City, called for a ceasefire and sharply criticized conditions in the humanitarian zone.
Israel's military actions against Gaza have killed more than 64,000 people, mostly civilians, according to local health authorities, triggered a hunger crisis and a wider humanitarian catastrophe and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel to demonstrate support for the country ahead of a meeting of the UN General Assembly, which is expected to hold a lively discussion on the creation of a Palestinian state, the Associated Press reported, citing the US State Department. department.
Despite tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly over Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, Rubio will arrive in Israel on Sunday for a two-day visit. He is expected to visit a disputed archaeological site in East Jerusalem where Palestinians want to establish the capital of a possible state.
Rubio will meet today with Qatar's prime minister, who has joined a number of other Arab leaders in condemning Israel's strike on Hamas leaders. in the Qatari capital Doha.
The Israeli attack thwarted Trump's efforts to secure a comprehensive Middle East peace deal, after the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar reacted angrily to Israel's actions.
Rubio's visit comes amid stalled efforts to negotiate a deal to release Israeli hostages and after Israel launched its plans to occupy Gaza City, the AP reports.
The State Department said he would discuss with Israeli leaders Israel's "operational goals and objectives" in Gaza, as well as joint efforts to persuade European countries not to recognize a Palestinian state.
Rubio is also expected to visit the City of David, a popular archaeological site and tourist destination built by Israel in the Palestinian neighborhood of "Siluwan" in East Jerusalem.
The site is home to some of the oldest archaeological monuments in the 3,000-year-old city, which some say may be linked to King David, the AP notes.
However, critics accuse the administration overseeing the site of imposing nationalist narratives at the expense of local Palestinian residents. The parent organization, "Elad", helps Jewish families settle in Arab neighborhoods to solidify Israel's claim to the entire city of Jerusalem.