Israel declares Gaza City a "combat zone," prepares to displace 1 million in brutal assault
By isabelle // 2025-08-29
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  • Israel has declared Gaza City a full-scale combat zone, ending humanitarian pauses and trapping nearly one million civilians under relentless bombardment.
  • The IDF’s assault—backed by 130,000 reserve troops—aims to forcibly displace Palestinians while demolishing neighborhoods, with more than 63,000 already killed, mostly women and children.
  • Aid is blocked, famine is spreading, and hospitals are being bombed as Israel denies accountability, using starvation and displacement as weapons.
  • Global condemnation grows, with multiple nations recognizing Palestine and accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing, yet the U.S. remains complicit through silence and military support.
  • Protests erupt in Israel as Netanyahu ignores calls for hostage negotiations, instead escalating attacks that legal experts and the UN warn constitute genocide.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced the initial stages of a full-scale assault on Gaza City today, declaring it a "dangerous combat zone" and suspending daily "tactical pauses" that had allowed minimal aid deliveries. The move comes despite international condemnation, including from France, Britain, Canada, and Australia—all of which recently recognized a Palestinian state in protest of Israel’s actions. Yet, as always, the U.S. remains silent, enabling the slaughter. Why is Israel declaring Gaza City a "dangerous combat zone" while ending humanitarian pauses? Who will protect the nearly one million civilians—half of them women and children—now facing forced displacement? And what does this mean for the already famine-stricken population? The answers are as horrifying as they are predictable: This is ethnic cleansing in real time.

A premeditated plan for mass displacement

The IDF’s announcement is no surprise. Israel’s security cabinet approved this operation on August 7, and since then, troops have been systematically demolishing Gaza City neighborhoods—including Al-Zaytoun and Sabra—using explosive-laden robots to level civilian homes. Now, with 130,000 reserve soldiers called up, the assault is set to escalate. The goal? Forcibly displace nearly one million people while continuing the relentless bombing that has already killed more than 63,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The IDF claims this is about dismantling Hamas. But the numbers tell a different story. 80% of the dead are women and children. Hospitals, schools, and mosques have been reduced to rubble. The United Nations has confirmed famine in northern Gaza, yet Israel denies it, just as it denies responsibility for the starvation deaths of dozens of Palestinians in recent weeks. The IDF’s own spokesman, Avichay Adraee, boasted on X that Hamas is now a "defeated group conducting guerrilla warfare." If that’s true, why the need for total annihilation?

No aid, no mercy, no accountability

Israel’s so-called "humanitarian pauses" were already a cruel joke. Aid workers reported that even during these brief windows, Israeli strikes continued. Now, with those pauses canceled in Gaza City, the last shred of pretense is gone. The IDF claims it will still allow aid elsewhere in Gaza, but how? The entire strip is under siege. Trucks carrying food and medicine are blocked. The few supplies that get through are a fraction of what’s needed. Meanwhile, Israeli forces drop leaflets warning civilians to flee south into areas already overcrowded with displaced families living in tents, without clean water or medical care. Israel recently struck Nasser Hospital four times in a single attack, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists. The IDF’s ever-shifting excuses—first calling it a "tragic mishap," then claiming Hamas had a camera nearby—are as flimsy as they are predictable. When hospitals become military targets, we are no longer talking about war. We are talking about genocide. Even Israeli citizens are protesting, demanding Netanyahu secure the release of the remaining hostages through negotiation rather than escalation. But Netanyahu is unmoved. His alliance with far-right extremists who have called for the complete depopulation of Gaza speaks volumes. The IDF’s own operations in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood reveal the truth: They are not just targeting Hamas. They are targeting homes, tunnels used for civilian shelter, and anything that moves. The evidence is undeniable. South Africa has already filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. More countries must follow. The U.S., which funds and arms Israel’s military, cannot continue to turn a blind eye. With Gaza City now declared a "combat zone," the next phase of Israel’s assault will bring even greater suffering. Sources for this article include: TheCradle.co CBSNews.com TimesOfIsrael.com BBC.co.uk
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