Gazans despair: ‘stay and die, or leave towards nowhere’, as Israel pushes deeper

Israel pushed tanks deeper into Gaza City and detonated explosives-laden vehicles in one suburb as air strikes killed at least 31 people on Monday, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.

The reports came as the president of the world’s leading genocide scholars’ association said it had passed a resolution stating the legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

There was no immediate response from Israel on the accounts of the Gaza City offensive or on the statement from the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Israel has in the past denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide.

Israel is pushing ahead with a plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, with the goal of destroying Hamas and rescuing the remaining 48 hostages after nearly two years of war.

Residents said Israeli forces sent old armoured vehicles into the eastern parts of the overcrowded Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, then blew them up remotely, destroying several houses and forcing more families to flee.