Under August’s sweltering sun, Israeli tanks pushed into Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood on August 23, marking a new phase in the conflict’s most contested battleground. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 61 Palestinians were killed and 308 were injured in the latest wave of strikes across the enclave.
In southern Gaza, medical teams reported that airstrikes targeted tents sheltering displaced families, killing at least 14 people—most of them women and children. These statistics underscore the devastating toll on civilians who have sought refuge far from the front lines.
Adding to the humanitarian emergency, the United Nations confirmed a famine in Gaza last week. In the past 24 hours alone, eight Palestinians, including two children, have died of malnutrition. "The famine is silently ravaging the bodies of civilians," Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, lamented on social media.
Since October 7, 2023, the conflict has claimed more than 62,600 lives and injured over 157,600 people. A report by The Guardian in late May suggested that 83% of Gaza’s casualties were civilians—a figure the Israeli military has since challenged without offering an alternative breakdown.
Looking ahead, tens of thousands of Israeli reservists are slated to join a potential offensive in early September. Gaza City, long seen by Israel as Hamas’s stronghold and the site of hostages, is at the core of these plans. In a recent address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said negotiations with Hamas would resume, but stressed his intention to "defeat Hamas" by seizing full control of the city.
Defense Minister Israel Katz outlined an operational plan involving "intense firepower strikes, civilian evacuations and ground offensives, which will completely crush Hamas." The international community remains on edge as indirect talks in Doha have stalled since late July, and the proposed operation has drawn criticism at home and abroad.
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Israeli troops push deeper into Gaza City amid rising casualties
cgtn.com
