A Palestinian man rides a bike as smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on Sunday — Reuters GAZA, Aug 24 (Reuters/AP/AFP): Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighbourhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area.
It added that the operation there "enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas".
Israel approved a plan this month to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as Hamas' last bastion. It is not expected to begin for a few weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try and resume ceasefire talks between the sides.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to press on with the offensive, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. On Friday Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas agrees to end the war on Israel's terms and release all the hostages it still holds.
Israeli forces kill four
more aid seekers
Israeli forces killed four aid seekers traveling on Sunday through a military zone south of Gaza City - an area regularly used by Palestinians trying to reach a food distribution point, a hospital and witnesses said.
The deaths add to the growing toll of Palestinians killed while seeking food, as parts of the Gaza Strip plunge into famine and Israel's military ramps up activity in northern Gaza ahead of a planned offensive to seize its largest city.
Al-Awda Hospital and two eyewitnesses told The Associated Press that the four Palestinians were killed when troops opened fire on a crowd heading to a site run by the Israeli-backed American contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, in the Netzarim corridor area. It occurred hundreds of meters (yards) away from the site, the eyewitnesses said.
"The gunfire was indiscriminate," Mohamed Abed, a father of two from the Bureij refugee camp, said, adding that while many fled some people fell to the ground after being shot.
Abed and Aymed Sayyad, another aid seeker among the crowd, said troops opened fire when a group near the front of the crowd pushed forward toward a distribution site before its scheduled opening.
Erdogan's wife calls on Melania
to speak up for Gaza's children
Turkey's First Lady wrote to her US counterpart Melania Trump on Saturday, asking her to show the same concern for Gaza's children as she has shown for those of Ukraine.
Emine Erdogan asked Donald Trump's spouse to write to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show mercy to Gaza's children.
In a letter presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska Summit earlier this month, she appealed to him to make peace in Ukraine for the sake of the children.
Turkey's First Lady wrote: "I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children who have lost their lives in the war will be extended to Gaza as well, where, in the span of two years, 62,000 innocent civilians, including 18,000 children, have been brutally killed.
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