News of the Israeli government's decision to take over Gaza City is being met not surprisingly with despair in Gaza. Gaza City, its capital, is on a countdown to oblivion.
Assuming that Hamas does not capitulate in the coming weeks – and there are currently few signs of this happening – then the Israeli military is set to embark on a devastating new phase of the war.
For Gaza City, where an estimated one million civilians still live, the prospects are bleak.
Hundreds of thousands are people who were forced to flee during the early months of the war but who returned in January when a ceasefire raised hopes of an end to the fighting.
They spent more than a year away from their homes, driven from one location to another, living in increasingly desperate conditions.
