In leaked audio recordings, the former head of Israeli military intelligence can be heard saying that the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza is “necessary and required for future generations.

Israel’s plan to seize control of Gaza City could see the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times.

Palestinian residents of Gaza City have come under relentless Israeli bombardment as the military prepares for a major offensive to seize and ethnically cleanse the area, barring emergency workers from reaching people trapped in the residential Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, in a controversial escalation of its war in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in the city in the north of the Gaza Strip. It was the enclave's most populous city before the war.

The Israeli army’s chief of staff said the military was pressing ahead with plans for the next phase of its Gaza offensive, with a focus on Gaza City.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Friday it will intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, stirring fears for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and renewing international pressure for an end to the conflict.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said “this further escalation will result in more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction."

New report accuses Israel of 'systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life'