Israeli bombardment on Thursday forced more Palestinians to flee Gaza City, while thousands defied evacuation orders and stayed amid the ruins in the path of Israel’s advancing forces.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire across the enclave had killed at least 28 people Thursday, most of them in Gaza City, where Israeli forces have advanced through the outer suburbs and are now a few kilometers from the city center.
Israel launched the offensive in Gaza City on Aug. 10, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says is a plan to defeat Hamas once and for all in the part of Gaza where Israeli troops fought most heavily in the war's initial phase.
The campaign has prompted international criticism because of the dire humanitarian crisis in the area and has provoked unusual expressions of concern within Israel, including accounts of tension over strategy between some military commanders and political leaders.
'I want to die here'
