Israel strikes high-rise building and threatens to hit more in Gaza City offensive

DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Israel struck a high-rise building in Gaza City on Friday after an evacuation warning as the military stepped up operations aimed at seizing control of the famine-stricken city of chosen million Palestinians Strikes elsewhere in Gaza City killed at least people vitality bureaucrats reported The military accused Hamas militants of using high-rises in the city for surveillance and planned ambushes and mentioned it would carry out precise targeted strikes on militant infrastructure in the coming days Israel has begun mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists and is repeating evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad Palestinians noted Friday s strike targeted the Mushtaha tower in Rimal an upscale neighborhood before the war Gaza City resident Ahmed al-Boari stated people fleeing Israeli operations elsewhere in the city had sought shelter in and around the building Satellite imagery manifested a large number of tents nearby It was not at once clear if anyone was wounded or killed in the strike Israel mentioned it struck the building because it was used by Hamas for surveillance Photos of the building taken before Friday s strike displayed that its roof was already heavily damaged from earlier raids Fears grow as Israeli forces advance Israel has declared Gaza City in the north of the territory to be a combat zone Parts of the city are already considered red zones where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting That has left residents on edge including a great number of who returned after fleeing the city in the initial stages of the war which has already displaced around of the territory s population The city s Shifa Hospital commented people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight into Friday including six members of a single family The Israeli military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the militants operate in densely-populated areas The offensive has also sparked widespread protests among Israelis who fear it will endanger hostages still held in Gaza particular of whom are thought to be in Gaza City There are such hostages of them assumed by Israel to be alive The protesters accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the war in order to satisfy his far-right governing partners instead of reaching a ceasefire with Hamas to bring the hostages home The ruling body of Israel is waging a war of attrition against us against the citizens of Israel as a whole and against the families of the hostages in particular mentioned Lishay Lavi-Miran the wife of hostage Omri Miran Hamas video shows hostages Hamas issued a propaganda video Friday of two hostages in Gaza City The video shows Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a car at one point joined by another hostage Alon Ohel Gilboa-Dalal speaks likely under duress pleading for an end to the war and the return of hostages He was last seen in a video more than six months ago with another hostage Evyatar David as they watched other hostages being published during a ceasefire Hamas-led militants killed around people mostly civilians and abducted people in their attack on southern Israel that triggered the war on Oct Most of have since been issued in ceasefires or other agreements Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed more than Palestinians according to Gaza s Medical Ministry which does not say how numerous were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead Israel says the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is disarmed and that it will retain open-ended measure control of the territory of selected million Palestinians Hamas has reported it will only release the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank Israeli settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Khallet A-Daba in the occupied West Bank overnight attacking residents with clubs and pepper spray noted Palestinians who arrived at the village in the attack s aftermath Video obtained from Palestinian activist Adeeb Huraini presented an older man with cuts on his head and leg and a woman whose headscarf was soaked in blood Another video shows Basel Adra a local activist holding a baby with blood on its head calling for help and saying there is a lot of blood Adra announced nine Palestinians were hospitalized after the attack Adra helped direct No Other Land an Oscar-winning documentary about settler violence in the area The Israeli military demolished much of the village last month The military did not promptly respond to a request for comment Protests against U S sanctions on Palestinian civil society Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups protested new U S sanctions aimed at Palestinian civil society saying in a joint comment that they would inflict severe harm on key human rights organizations that have worked for decades to protect Palestinians The Trump administration on Thursday reported sanctions on three Palestinian groups Al Haq Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights The new measures would make it harder for them to receive donations from the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio disclosed the U S was targeting the groups over their involvement with the International Criminal Court s efforts to investigate arrest and prosecute Israelis Last year the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister alleging crimes against humanity in Gaza The United States and Israel have rejected the accusations and the U S has sanctioned a number of ICC judges and prosecutors The U S is effectively punishing the very act of addressing human rights violations and abuses disclosed Ammar Dwaik head of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights This criminalizes accountability and sets a dangerous precedent worldwide that governments can silence investigators Frankel informed from Jerusalem and Mroue from Beirut Follow AP coverage at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war Source