Israel kills 17 people, continues threats to those remaining in Gaza City

2025-10-02 11:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

At least 17 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since dawn across Gaza, as Israel threatened tens of thousands of people remaining in Gaza City with a forced evacuation order, saying it was their last chance to leave or face the "full force of Israel's attack."

Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in "X" on Wednesday that anyone who remained would be considered a "terrorist and supporter of terrorism."

The ongoing bombardment of Gaza City has flattened the territory's largest urban center, killing dozens of people every day, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to an unknown fate in the south, often targeted along the way.

Al Jazeera reports that the Israeli army was ordering people to leave, then chasing them down the coastal road to the south with military helicopters, drones and tanks, creating chaos and panic.

This morning, a child was killed by Israeli drone fire in the Ansar area, west of Gaza City. Nine people were killed and 13 injured as a result of Israeli targeting of displaced persons in the central Gaza Strip. A Palestinian man and his wife were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Another Palestinian was killed and more than 10 were injured in an Israeli drone strike south of Deir el-Balah. In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, eight people were injured when an Israeli drone bombed a tent for displaced people inside the Al-Aqsa University campus in the al-Mawasi area, west of the city, which Israel has repeatedly targeted despite declaring it a safe zone.

On Wednesday, the Gaza government's Media Office said the Israeli army had closed Al-Rashid Road, which it described as one of the vital arteries that civilians rely on for travel between Gaza's provinces.

As a result of the escalating hostilities, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced yesterday that it had temporarily suspended operations in Gaza City, as did the NGO Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF) last week.

"The ICRC will continue to strive to provide support to civilians in Gaza City, whenever circumstances permit, from our offices in Deir el-Balah and Rafah, which remain fully operational ," she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Hamas continues to discuss a U.S. ceasefire plan to end Israel's two-year genocidal war. Acceptance of terms seen as largely favorable to Israel's stated goals remains uncertain./ CNA