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TEL AVIV — Israeli troops set on ousting Hamas pushed into the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, sending thousands of civilians fleeing the Palestinian enclave’s largest city as international pressure built on Israel to agree to a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting — to allow in more aid and facilitate the release of hostages.
Residents said Israeli forces had reached the Ansar roundabout in central Gaza City, a block from its main port. Footage of the Gaza City skyline posted by Hamdan Dahdouh, an Al Jazeera cameraman, was filled with the rattle of gunfire and the whistle of bullets.
“Violent clashes” were taking place around the Ansar and Azhar neighborhoods in the middle of the city, Dahdouh said.
They came hours after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country’s forces had advanced from the north and the south “to the heart of Gaza City” and were clashing with militants. “We are tightening the noose,” he said in a speech Tuesday evening.
Palestinian civilians, some carrying white flags, streamed out of the city as Israeli authorities announced a five-hour pause in fighting along Salah al-Din Road, the Gaza Strip’s main north-south route. They carried children in their arms, along with backpacks and shopping bags filled with the few belongings that would fit, walking for miles in search of safety.
Fadi al-Rubai, 25, who spoke to The Washington Post by phone, described fleeing al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with his family of nine as fighting drew closer. They passed a large number of tanks and Israeli soldiers along the route.
“There was great destruction around us,” he said.
Calls for more-sustained pauses have mounted as Israel advances farther into Gaza City. While the Israeli military has repeatedly warned residents to leave the northern Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands have stayed — distrusting promises of safe passage and fearing for their lives in “safer” areas in the south, which are still under Israeli bombardment.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the airstrikes and ground attacks that followed the Hamas attack on southern Israel a month ago, during which more than 1,400 people were killed and about 240 abducted.
After intensive discussions in Tokyo on Wednesday, top diplomats from the Group of Seven countries underscored “the importance of protecting civilians and compliance with international law.”
The joint statement from the United States, Germany, Britain, Japan, France, Canada and Italy also urged “humanitarian pauses” to speed the delivery of aid to desperate civilians in Gaza and allow for the release of hostages. President Biden reiterated his call for a pause in the fight during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated categorically Wednesday that the United States opposes any Israeli reoccupation of Gaza or displacement of Palestinians from the Strip. Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would take responsibility for security in Gaza for an indefinite period after its ground assault.
In his speech Tuesday evening, Gallant said there would be “no humanitarian pause without the return of the hostages.” He acknowledged the growing international pressure on Israel, even from its closest allies, but said it was determined to press on.
“It is impossible to stop this fighting until we achieve our goals,” he said. “This war was pushed on us, and we have no way to go back. There’s no stopping. We can only go forward to victory over Hamas and bringing the hostages back.”
In recent days, however, Netanyahu has signaled an increasing openness to “tactical” pauses of a few hours, which U.S. officials view as a positive development.
The office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which oversees the Israeli government’s civilian policy in Gaza and the West Bank, said there was a pause in fighting between the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tofah for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday. The office urged civilians to move south on Salah al-Din Road, releasing footage of families leaving on foot past bombed-out buildings, hands raised in the air.
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Rubai, who followed the route with his family on Wednesday, had already been displaced once from his home in the Shati refugee camp, along the coast in Gaza City. Israeli troops have been closing in on the camp from the north, unleashing devastating strikes on the area from aircraft and naval boats.
The family drove to the beginning of Salah al-Din Road before leaving their car to walk, fearing that the vehicle would make them a target. After half a mile, Rubai said, he saw a “large number of tanks on both sides of the road” and Israeli soldiers, who asked them to raise their hands and hold up their identity documents.
Several people were stripped, searched and thrown to the ground, he said, adding that the soldiers fired warning shots into the air to intimidate people.
“We saw them; they were close,” said Ahmad Masri, who spoke to The Post as he fled from the Shati camp, adding that bodies lay along the road.
U.N. monitors estimated that up to 15,000 people passed along the route Tuesday, three times the figure from the day before. The majority, including children, the elderly and people with disabilities, arrived in the south with minimal belongings, they said.
Israeli troops have also closed in on Gaza City from the south, making the area increasingly hard to navigate for first responders. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Wednesday that all roads into al-Quds Hospital in southern Gaza City were closed and that “medical teams are unable to leave the hospital to reach injured persons.”
Israeli forces have been bombing an area to the west of the hospital since Tuesday night, it said.
Osama al-Aish, a photojournalist, shared footage with The Post of residents fleeing through the Rimal neighborhood in central Gaza City on Wednesday. Two women carried babies in their arms, and small children followed on foot as a man described how Israeli troops had reached the Ansar roundabout behind them.
Even as families fled south, there was no guarantee of safety. An afternoon airstrike hit the Khalid bin al-Walid Mosque, in Khan Younis, near a hospital where a Post photographer was reporting from. Hamas officials said two other mosques in the area were hit, but The Post could not independently verify that.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes.
While most families from Gaza City appeared to be heading toward Rafah, near the Egyptian border, the Israeli military has in recent days identified the small town of Mawasi, on the enclave’s coast, as a destination for some of Gaza’s 1.5 million displaced people.
But the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians — responsible for administering most of the aid that has trickled into Gaza during the war — said it was “not aware” of any distribution in Mawasi. During a recent visit, a Post photographer saw rows of tents housing displaced families, yet shortages forced others to sleep in their cars. A strike hit near the area during his time there.
Harb reported from London, Birnbaum from Tokyo, Balousha from Cairo and Dadouch from Beirut. Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
Israel-Gaza war
Israeli forces advanced deeper into the territory, closing in on Gaza City — a move that U.S. officials said would probably lead to increased casualties. As the war passes a month of fighting, Israel’s endgame for Gaza is no clearer. Understand what’s behind the Israel-Gaza war.
Hostages: Israeli officials say Hamas militants abducted about 240 hostages in a highly organized attack. Four hostages have been released — two Americans and two Israelis — as families hold on to hope. One released Israeli hostage recounted the “spiderweb” of Gaza tunnels she was held in.
Humanitarian aid: The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it has received over 300 trucks with food, medicine and water to the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah crossing. However, the PRCS said, there hasn’t been permission yet to bring in fuel, which powers the enclave’s hospitals, water pumps, taxis and more.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has a complicated history, and its rulers have long been at odds with the Palestinian Authority, the U.S.-backed government in the West Bank. Here is a timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.