Israeli forces seen building positions in Gaza as they take more ground

Nidal Al-Mughrabi - Reuters - 07/04
Israeli troops could be seen clearing ground and building watch towers on Monday in parts of Gaza they have seized in recent days in a renewed offensive that the United Nations says has already captured or depopulated two-thirds of the enclave.
  • Cranes at work in northern and southern Gaza
  • Evacuation warnings issued to more areas
  • Two thirds of Gaza occupied or to be evacuated, UN agency says
CAIRO/GAZA, April 7 (Reuters) - Israeli troops could be seen clearing ground and building watch towers on Monday in parts of Gaza they have seized in recent days in a renewed offensive that the United Nations says has already captured or depopulated two-thirds of the enclave.
The army has issued repeated evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands Palestinians in southern, central and northern areas since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, forcing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.

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Zakia Sami, 60, a mother of six from Gaza City, said she could see tanks occupying the high ground as she fled her home after the army ordered the family out of the eastern suburb of Shejaia.
"They have taken over the Al-Muntar hilltop where we used to go to play with our kids. Now they are stationed there and they can hit any house they want inside Shejaia,” she told Reuters via a chat app.
"Gaza has always been a small place and the Israelis are making it smaller and smaller every day. We are being strangled with no food and with bombs falling on us."
According to the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA, the total area seized by Israel or placed under evacuation orders now covers 65% of the Gaza Strip. In Rafah alone, 140,000 people have been displaced over the past two weeks, according to the International Rescue Committee aid group.
A Palestinian journalist was killed on Monday and nine others were wounded, some critically, when an Israeli air strike hit a tent used by media inside the compound of the Nasser Hospit...
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