By Sally Ibrahim

 

ISRAELI OCCUPIED AND STARVED GAZA, 17 Sept. - (ANA) - For the second consecutive day, Gaza woke to its sky ablaze and the ground shaking under relentless Israeli airstrikes. Warplanes hovered overhead, launching wave after wave of bombardments on densely populated neighbourhoods, reducing entire homes to rubble.

 

Speaking to The New Arab, Palestinian residents said the intensity of the campaign signals more than just another escalation.

 

"It seems that the Israeli army is preparing to start its ground invasion," Mohammed al-Attar, a Palestinian man from Gaza City, told TNA.

 

But on the ground, residents and local sources deny the presence of tanks in Gaza City, saying instead that bombardment has intensified to an almost nonstop pace.

 

Officially, the Israeli army declared an expanded ground operation. Spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced that regular and reserve forces from multiple divisions had begun a wide-scale advance under "Operation Gideon's Chariot 2."

 

The Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets over Gaza City, warning residents to evacuate south "even on foot," effectively ordering civilians into displacement.

 

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appearing in Tel Aviv District Court on corruption charges, declared that the army had begun an "intensive operation."

 

Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on his X account: "Gaza is burning… soldiers are striking bravely to defeat Hamas and release the hostages."

 

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army issued an announcement to residents of Gaza City on Wednesday, stating that a temporary corridor had been opened along Salah al-Din Street to facilitate the movement of civilians toward the south.

 

According to the statement, Palestinian residents will be allowed to use the route through Wadi Gaza for 48 hours, starting at noon on 17 September and ending at noon on 19 September.

 

The army stated that movement must take place only on the roads marked in yellow on the accompanying map and urged residents to comply with the security forces’ instructions and traffic signs.

 

 

 

 

In the central Gaza City neighbourhood of Al-Daraj, Sarah Ashour lost her house after the Israeli army ordered her and her family to immediately evacuate the house.  

 

"Once we left the house, we heard a whistle, then everything went black," she said to TNA.

 

"The walls collapsed on us, and we survived by a miracle. Last night, we slept in our neighbour's car. This morning, I don't even know if I still have a home," she added.

 

Her words mirror the despair of thousands. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that dozens were killed and wounded during the past two days, mostly women and children.

 

In al-Sheikh Radwan in the north of the city, Israeli strikes flattened an entire residential block, killing tens of local residents, while tens of others remain missing under the debris.

 

Civil Defence teams, starved of fuel and equipment, struggle to dig them out. "We are receiving constant reports of destroyed homes and trapped families, but we cannot reach them," Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson of the civil defence, told TNA.

 

"We are working with primitive tools against firepower designed to erase the city. In minutes, the whole area is gone. The craters are so deep they bury families alive," he said.

 

Beyond the mounting death toll lies the trauma of survival. Families forced onto the streets search for places to sleep, often without even a tent.

 

Hassan al-Zaqout, a father of three, fled his home after it was damaged. "We've turned into nocturnal creatures," he described to TNA. "We sleep on sidewalks, under the flashes of bombs that make the night brighter than day. My children haven't closed their eyes in days."

 

The exodus continues through Rashid Street, the main coastal road. Local residents described streams of families leaving on foot, in cars and trucks piled with mattresses and pots, or on donkey carts.

 

Many people headed south toward Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, even though the road itself is repeatedly targeted.

 

Abu Firas, a taxi driver, said, "We've transported dozens of families, but we do not know if they found areas to live as the southern areas are crowded with displaced people."

 

 

 

 

For Palestinians, the horror is compounded by the political cover shielding Israel. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted Hamas faced a "short deadline" for a ceasefire, while US President Donald Trump reiterated that Israel has a "right to defend itself."

 

In Gaza, such remarks are understood to be sanctioning the slaughter of civilians. Gaza-based political analyst Mustafa Ibrahim remarked, "When Washington gives Netanyahu the green light, it shares responsibility for every drop of Palestinian blood. This is not just Israel's war; it is also America's war, waged with Israeli tools."

 

"Our people are being slaughtered under cameras watched by the whole world, yet we are told all we can expect is concern," he added.

 

Ramallah-based Palestinian political analyst Esmat Mansour went further, saying the war is no longer confined to military objectives.

 

"Netanyahu is waging a political battle for his survival, not just a military one. The Americans are providing him with both cover and encouragement," he told TNA.

 

"The destruction of Gaza's neighbourhoods is not incidental; it's part of a strategy to empty the city of its people and make them bargain chips in future negotiations," he said.

 

Hamas condemned the campaign as "genocide", warning that continued strikes endangered Israeli captives held in Gaza.

 

Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza are again on the verge of collapse, with doctors operating on the floor, out of beds and without medicine.

 

Journalists, too, are caught in the line of fire, documenting destruction while living through it themselves. Ahmed Ghanem, a Gaza-based Palestinian journalist, wrote on his Facebook page after covering the shelling of the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, "What we witnessed last night was unprecedented."

 

He described streets engulfed in flames, residential towers collapsing in seconds, and ambulances unable to reach the wounded because of continuous bombardment. "This is not a war on fighters," he added, "it is a war on a city, on its people, its homes, its schools, its hospitals. Every corner is a target."

 

Ghanem emphasised that many journalists in Gaza are now operating without protective equipment, electricity, or reliable internet access.

 

He noted that reporters are filing stories from shelters, hospitals, or even cars, all while their own families are under threat. Several of his colleagues, he said, have lost relatives in the bombings, yet continue reporting.

 

His testimony reflects a broader reality: Gaza's press corps has become both the chronicler and the victim of war.

 

International media outlets rely heavily on their work, even as they face the risk of becoming casualties themselves.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/17 September 2025 - - -