Israeli tanks and bulldozers positioned in the north of the Gaza Strip, on October 30, 2023. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP)
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip: Israeli troops and armor pushed deeper into northern and central Gaza on Monday, as the UN and medical staff warned that airstrikes are hitting closer to hospitals where tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter alongside thousands of wounded.
Video obtained by the Associated Press showed an Israeli tank and bulldozer in central Gaza blocking the territory's main north-south highway, which the Israeli military earlier told Palestinians to use to escape the expanding ground offensive.
The video shows a car approaching an earth barrier across the road, where a tank is parked behind a small building. The car stops and turns around. As it heads away, the tank appears to open fire, and an explosion engulfs the car.
The journalist who was filming the scene from another car races away in terror, screaming, "Go back! Go back!” at an approaching ambulance and other vehicles. The Gaza Health Ministry later said three people were killed in the struck car.
The Israeli advances put their forces on both sides of Gaza City and the surrounding areas of northern Gaza.
The moment a civilian vehicle is targeted by an Israeli tank that arrived in Salah Al-Din Street on October 30, 2023. The journalist's shocked reaction can be heard as he screams in disbelief.
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) October 30, 2023
➡️ https://t.co/hjf2ZtIMqJ#Gaza #Palestine #GazaStrip #SalahAlDinStreet pic.twitter.com/TnjWrR9Ub2
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in the north and would no longer be able to escape if the north-south highway is blocked. Around 117,000 displaced people are staying in hospitals in northern Gaza, alongside thousands of patients and staff, hoping they will be safe from strikes, according to UN figures.
Most residents heeded Israel's orders to flee to the southern part of the besieged territory, but many stayed in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones.
The death toll among Palestinians passed 8,000, mostly women and minors, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The toll is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence. More than 1.4 million people in Gaza have fled their homes.
