GAZA/ISTANBUL

Israeli military vehicles including tanks have advanced into new neighborhoods in the northwest of Gaza City, according to local reports.

Eyewitnesses said tanks pushed several hundred meters inside the al-Saftawi neighborhood and the area where Jala Street ends.

Heavy machinery vehicles including bulldozers also carried out operations around the Karameh Towers neighborhood and Mukhabarat district.

The Israeli army released photos and footage of the military vehicles positioned in the al-Saftawi neighborhood and the end of Jala Street.

The military has begun carrying out an offensive aimed at expanding and consolidating its control over the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel will re-occupy the entire Strip.

On Aug. 8, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned that the army, which had resumed ground assaults, would destroy the city if the Palestinian group Hamas did not disarm and release all hostages.

In a statement Wednesday, the Israeli army said it had carried out more than 150 air and artillery strikes on Gaza City within two days.

Israel’s heavy bombardment of northern Gaza and repeated warnings of forced evacuations have driven hundreds of Palestinian families to flee southward.

Palestinians, carrying their children in their arms, continue the arduous hours-long trek on foot under the constant threat of bombardment and surveillance drones.

Those who reach the south are met with dire conditions in temporary shelters, where shortages of food, clean water and medicine are widespread.

The forced exodus, described by many as a “death road,” has already claimed the lives of numerous civilians.

Survivors face a daily struggle for existence without safe shelter or access to basic humanitarian needs.