PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, July 10: The Israeli army dropped thousands of leaflets over Gaza City on Wednesday urging all residents to flee a heavy offensive that has rocked the main city of the besieged Palestinian territory.
The leaflets, addressed to "everyone in Gaza City", set out designated escape routes to the south and warned that the urban area, previously home to more than half a million people, would "remain a dangerous combat zone".
The warning follows three partial evacuation orders and came as Israeli troops, backed by tanks and aircraft, have fought Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the heaviest combat operations the city has seen in months.
In one operation, the army said it had killed militants and found weapons inside the long-vacated Gaza City headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Elsewhere across Gaza, deadly strikes have hit four schools used as shelters in four days, sparking international outrage.
The upsurge in fighting and displacement came as mediator Qatar was due to resume talks Wednesday toward a truce and hostage release deal to end the war, now grinding on into its 10th month.
An Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea arrived in Doha for the talks, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of their sensitivity.
CIA director William Burns was also expected in the Qatari capital, after holding talks in Cairo on Tuesday.
The latest fighting in Gaza has newly displaced 350,000 civilians, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who spoke before the latest leaflet drop and said "there is absolutely no safe space in Gaza".
One woman carrying her scant belongings through the bombed-out wasteland, Nimr al-Jamal, told AFP on Tuesday that "this is the 12th time" her family has had to flee.
"How many times can we endure this? A thousand times? Where will we end up?"
Hamas, whose October 7 attack started the war, has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of escalating the fighting to derail the latest ceasefire talks.
The Islamist groups armed wing said this week the resurgent battles in Gaza City were "the most intense in months", while deadly strikes have also hit elsewhere across the territory. —AFP
