GAZA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least 45 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as the Israeli army stepped up military pressure ahead of a possible attack on Gaza City.
Eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential home in the al-Sabra neighborhood, which has been subjected to intense shelling for several days in southern Gaza City, said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza's civil defense authority.
Basal said six people, including four children, were killed in an airstrike on a Palestinian gathering in the Sabra neighborhood in southern Gaza City. He added that four others, including three brothers, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house east of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of the city.
Another four people were killed in an Israeli drone attack on a Palestinian gathering in the town of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, according to Basal. He also noted that five farmers were killed in an airstrike northwest of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip.
Basal added that five people were killed in an airstrike on a house in the al-Shanti area of northern Gaza City, while three others were killed when an Israeli drone struck a motorcycle in the al-Tawam area northwest of the city.
He noted that 10 people were killed by Israeli army gunfire near two aid distribution centers, seven of them at the Netzarim junction in the central Gaza Strip and three north of the city of Rafah.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on these incidents.
The attacks came as the Israeli army intensified its attacks on residential areas, particularly high-rise buildings in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods south of Gaza City, and the Jabalia area north of the Strip, amid ongoing artillery shelling, according to eyewitnesses and Palestinian security sources.
They said that Israeli aircraft have carried out dozens of airstrikes for several days in these areas, where dozens of families remain trapped and refuse to leave their homes. Explosions were heard in these areas as thick plumes of smoke rose into the air.
Israeli forces have been besieging the densely populated Gaza City for about two weeks from several directions. Israeli officials said that evacuation notices would be issued to Palestinians there before the army moves in, according to Palestinian security sources.
Meanwhile, Israeli army spokesperson for Arabic media Avichay Adraee said in a statement that the army has begun making initial warning calls to medical and international organizations operating in northern Gaza, notifying them that Gaza City residents should prepare to move south.
There was no immediate comment from authorities in Gaza, but the Hamas-run interior authority warned in a statement against a siege or a re-invasion of the city and the forced displacement of its residents.
The statement called such actions "a major humanitarian catastrophe for the city's 1.2 million residents and internally displaced persons, and a war crime that requires a firm international stance to curb the aggression and stop the occupation from continuing to implement its plan."
In addition, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement on Thursday that nearly one in three children in Gaza City suffers from malnutrition.
The agency added that Israeli authorities are not allowing sufficient aid to enter the enclave, and that at least 500 to 600 trucks loaded with aid are needed daily. It noted that airdrops are unsafe and unnecessary.
It warned that as the war in Gaza escalates, the situation will worsen, stressing the need to allow UNRWA to bring in aid on a large scale and distribute it safely.
According to the Gaza-based health authorities on Thursday, the death toll from starvation and malnutrition has risen to 271, including 112 children. ■
