Israeli forces push into parts of a central Gaza city that the war had
largely spared
[July 22, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops for the first time
Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups
are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the
Palestinian territory with military corridors.
Deir al-Balah is the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground
operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war,
leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers
of hostages there. The main group representing hostages’ families said
it was “shocked and alarmed” by the incursion and demanded answers from
Israeli leaders.
Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring
Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in
ongoing ceasefire talks.
The U.N. food agency, meanwhile, accused Israeli forces of firing on a
crowd of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid over the weekend. The
Gaza Health Ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on
aid-seekers in the war that has driven the territory to the brink of
famine.
In the latest sign of international frustration, the United Kingdom,
France and 23 other Western-aligned countries issued a statement saying
“the war in Gaza must end now.” They harshly criticized Israel's
restrictions on humanitarian aid and called for the release of the 50
hostages remaining in Gaza.
Evacuation orders dropped at dawn
Associated Press reporters heard explosions and saw smoke rising from
parts of the city that were ordered evacuated on Sunday. The Israeli
military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with
regulations, said it was the first time ground troops had operated in
the area.
A man living in the evacuation zone, who spoke on condition of anonymity
for fear of retribution, said Israel dropped pamphlets at dawn ordering
people to evacuate. Two hours later, tanks rolled into the area.
He said his 62-year-old father, who had spent the night elsewhere, fled
from house to house as Israeli forces moved in and saw them flattening
structures with bulldozers and tanks. Both men managed to leave the
evacuation zone.
WHO says Israel raided its compound and detained staff
The World Health Organization said Israeli forces raided its main staff
residence in Deir al-Balah, forcing women and children to evacuate on
foot toward the coast.
“Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated
on the spot and screened at gunpoint,” the U.N. health agency said in a
statement. It said two staff and two family members were detained, with
three later released and one still being held.
The WHO said its main warehouse in the city, which is in the evacuation
zone, was damaged by an explosion and a fire, hurting the agency's
ability to help hospitals and emergency medical teams. There was no
immediate comment from the Israeli military.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier said two U.N.
guesthouses in Deir al-Balah were damaged by shrapnel. He said the cause
was still being investigated but that heavy Israeli airstrikes had been
reported in the area. Local and international staff will continue to
work there, he said.
The military declined to say if it had ordered the evacuation of aid
groups based in the city, saying only that it maintains continuous
contact with them and facilitates their relocation when necessary.
Separately, the military announced that a 19-year-old soldier was killed
and an officer was severely wounded in combat in southern Gaza.
U.N. says nearly 90% of Gaza is now off limits
Tens of thousands of people have sought refuge in Deir al-Balah during
repeated waves of mass displacement in Gaza.
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator says 87.8% of Gaza is now under
evacuation orders or inside Israeli military zones, “leaving 2.1 million
civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12 per cent of the Strip, where
essential services have collapsed.”
Israel has taken over large areas of Gaza and split the territory with
corridors stretching from the border to the sea as it seeks to pressure
Hamas to release more hostages.
In response to the Deir al-Balah incursion, the Hostages and Missing
Families Forum warned in its statement that “the people of Israel will
not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages — both the
living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn’t know
what was at stake."
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Smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City,
Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack
that triggered the war and killed around 1,200 people. Fewer than
half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.
Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on Hamas because
the militants operate in densely populated areas, and it accuses the
group of prolonging the war because Hamas has not accepted Israel's
terms for a ceasefire.
Rare condemnation from U.N. food agency
The World Food Program, in a rare condemnation, said the crowd
surrounding its convoy in northern Gaza on Sunday “came under fire
from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire.” It said “countless
lives” were lost. A photographer working with the AP counted 51
bodies at two hospitals.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 80 people were killed.
Israel's military said it fired warning shots “to remove an
immediate threat” and questioned the death toll reported by the
Palestinians. It declined to comment on the WFP statement.
Hundreds of people have been killed while seeking food in recent
weeks, both from U.N. convoys and separate aid sites run by an
Israeli-backed group that has been mired in controversy.
The Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to more than
59,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count does not
distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says
more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is
part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international
organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on
casualties.
Israel detains Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson
Gaza health officials said at least 18 people, including three women
and five children, were killed in Israeli strikes overnight and into
Monday.
At least three people were killed when crowds of Palestinians
waiting for aid trucks were shot at in the area of the Netzarim
corridor in central Gaza, according to two hospitals that received
the bodies.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces detained Dr. Marwan
al-Hams, acting director of the strip’s field hospitals and the
ministry’s spokesman.
Israeli troops killed a local journalist, Tamer al-Zaanein, who was
accompanying al-Hams, and wounded two other people when they
detained him near a Red Cross field hospital in southern Gaza,
according to the Health Ministry and the journalist’s family.
The International Committee of the Red Cross declined to provide
details but said it was “very concerned" about safety and security
around the hospital "and the impact this can have on patients and
staff.”
Israeli military officials offered no immediate comment on any of
the strikes.
Israel again strikes rebel-held port in Yemen
The fighting in Gaza has triggered conflicts elsewhere in region,
including between Israel and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in
Yemen, who have fired missiles and drones at Israel in what they say
is in solidarity with Palestinians.
The Israeli military said it struck the Hodeidah port in Yemen early
Monday. Israel has struck the port before, including two weeks ago,
accusing the Houthis of using it to import arms from Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the targets included areas
of the port that Israel had destroyed in previous strikes. “The
Houthis will pay heavy prices for launching missiles towards the
state of Israel,” Katz said.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem. Associated
Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Sally Abou AlJoud in
Beirut and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this
report.
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