By Youssef Fares – Oct 4, 2025
Gaza | US President Donald Trump threatened to open the “gates of hell” on Gaza if Hamas doesn’t accept the deal by Sunday night, while the Israeli side opened the gates regardless, unleashing one of its most brutal air and ground attacks on the city to date. The occupation is employing every tool of annihilation, from warplanes and artillery to car bombs and quadcopter drones. More than half a million residents, trapped in a constricted zone, are enduring around-the-clock bombardment designed to force them out.
In Sheikh Radwan and al-Nafaq, northeast of Gaza City, five car bombs were detonated on Friday, obliterating nearly 50 homes. Israeli warplanes also struck a crowd on al-Maghrabi Street in al-Sabra neighborhood, killing seven people, mostly women and children. In western Gaza, homes near Abu Hasira Street by the port were attacked, while another massacre targeted displaced families sheltering in tents along the port area, resulting in around 30 casualties, most of whom were unable to flee south.
According to Gaza’s civil defense spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, the besieged city is collapsing under unbearable conditions after the occupation cut off al-Rashid Street, halting the entry of food convoys, goods, and medical aid. He noted that Israeli bombardment has doubled in intensity over the past two days, particularly after Israeli war minister Yisrael Katz declared that anyone still inside Gaza City is a “legitimate target.”
While Trump urged Palestinians to flee areas he described as “future death area”, referencing Gaza City. James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, told journalists in Geneva: “The notion of a safe zone in the south is farcical,” Speaking from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Elder pointed to how “bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which had been designated as temporary shelters are regularly reduced to rubble, (and) tents… are regularly engulfed in fire from air attacks”.
In southern and central Gaza, supposedly designated as “humanitarian areas” by the occupation, have proven no safer than the north. In Maghazi refugee camp, Israeli strikes caused more than 13 casualties, while in Deir al-Balah, a tent sheltering displaced families was bombed.
The hardest incident took place in Mawasi area of Khan Younis, where Israeli drones targeted two vehicles belonging to the Radaa’ unit, the field wing of the resistance security in Gaza, during a field operation. According to the unit, its fighters had been confronting individuals involved in killing resistance members. While withdrawing, following the operation, the Israeli forces hit the vehicles, resulting in 20 martyrs and wounding others.
Over the past week, southern and central Gaza have been hit by nearly 30 airstrikes on civilian gatherings and forcibly displaced persons’ camps, resulting in around 150 martyrs. Almost 40% of the martyrs are in the very areas the occupation labels as “safe” and “humanitarian.”
