The Israeli army claims it now controls 40% of Gaza City, the most populated area in the enclave: 'The operation will continue to expand.'

The Israeli army claimed Thursday that it controls 40% of Gaza City, the largest city in the Palestinian territory, after a day that left more than 60 dead across the Strip, according to the local Civil Defense.

"You can see on the screen an example of a detonation (...) in the Zeitun neighborhood, inside Gaza City. Today we control 40% of the city . The operation will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days," Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin assured in a video message to the media, without giving further details.

In a single attack today on the Al Tuffah neighborhood, five people were killed and more than 50 others were injured, including children, according to the spokesman for the organization, Mahmud Basal.

Defrin added that combat teams from two brigades continue to fight in the Zeitun neighborhood, and that other infantry forces are maneuvering in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City. "We continue to systematically attack Hamas infrastructure," the spokesperson added.

Nearly two years after the start of the war, triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military has intensified its bombing and ground operations in Gaza City in recent weeks.

However, neither the army nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have publicly announced the start of the major offensive to take the city, as outlined in a plan approved in August.

According to health sources cited by the Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera, Israel has killed 69 Gazans in attacks across the Strip so far this Thursday alone, including 39 in the besieged Gaza City.

At Al Shifa Hospital in that city, bodies wrapped in white shrouds lay on the morgue floor.

A woman caressed her dead son's head as his body lay outside on a stretcher. "Who are you leaving me with, son? Why? Why?" she cried.

In a video released Thursday, Israeli army spokeswoman Brigadier General Effie Drefin stated that her troops control "40% of Gaza City."

"The operation will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days. (...) We will increase the pressure on Hamas until it is defeated," he added.

The Israeli army currently controls around 75% of the Gaza Strip, a 365 km2 territory under siege since the start of the conflict.

The UN has declared a famine situation there, which Israel denies.

According to UN estimates, nearly one million people live in and around Gaza City. Witnesses say thousands of Palestinians have fled the city in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, a senior military official said Israel expected "a million" people to flee south.

In Tel al-Hawa, a neighborhood in western Gaza City where an attack took place on Thursday, AFP images show Palestinians in front of damaged shops, collecting scattered belongings.

Isra al-Basus, who lives there, described seeing the tent next to hers on fire. "My children and I were sleeping when we heard the bombing. Shrapnel fell on us, and my four children started screaming," she said.

Further south, in the Nuseirat refugee camp, the Civil Defense reported that an Israeli airstrike killed seven people, including three children.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficult access to many areas prevent AFP from independently verifying figures and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli army.

During the October 7 attack, Islamist militants killed 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

They also kidnapped 251 people, of whom 47 remain captive in Gaza, including 25 who are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli military.

The Israeli retaliation campaign has killed at least 64,231 people in Gaza, mostly civilians , according to the Hamas-ruled territory's Health Ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.