The Israeli military pressed operations around Gaza City on Thursday as US President Donald Trump hosted a meeting on post-war plans for the shattered Palestinian territory.
US news site Axios and the BBC reported that former UK prime minister Tony Blair attended a meeting at the White House late on Wednesday to discuss plans for post-war Gaza. Axios said Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part.
No details emerged from the gathering, which Trump's special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff had earlier promised would be "large meeting".
"It's a very comprehensive plan we're putting together," Witkoff told Fox News, without offering more details.
The US State Department said separately secretary of state Marco Rubio would meet Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar in Washington.
Israeli tanks edge closer to Gaza City
Late on Wednesday, Israeli tanks had pushed into a new area on the edge of Gaza City, destroying houses and prompting residents to flee, witnesses said.
Tanks entered the Ibad al-Rahman neighbourhood on the northern edge of Gaza City and shelled houses, wounding several people and forcing many others, who had been taken by surprise, to move deeper into Gaza's largest city, residents said.
"All of a sudden, we heard that the tanks pushed into Ibad al-Rahman, the sounds of explosions became louder, and louder, and we saw people escaping towards our area," said Saad Abed, 60, a former construction worker.
"If no truce is reached, we will see the tanks outside our homes," he told the Reuters news agency via a chat app from his house in Jala Street in Gaza City, around 1km from the Ibad al-Rahman neighbourhood.
'Evacuating Gaza City is inevitable'
Israel has said it is preparing to launch a new offensive in Gaza City, which it describes as Hamas's last bastion. Around half of the enclave's two million people are currently living there and Israel has said they will be told to evacuate.
Thousands have already left, but church leaders in the city said they were staying put, as leaving Gaza City and "trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence".
"For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds," a joint statement by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Israeli military's Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said "evacuating Gaza City is inevitable" and Israel had started facilitating the entry of tents into the enclave.
"Before transitioning to the next phase in the war, I wish to confirm that there are vast empty areas in the southern Strip, just as is the case in the central camps and in Al-Mawasi. These areas are free of tents," he said, in response to residents' concerns over the lack of space in central and southern areas.
Palestinian and United Nations officials said the Gaza Strip was in need of around 1.5 million new tents.
At least 20 killed, including four-year-old
Israeli tanks retreated from the edge of Gaza City later on Wednesday to the Jabalia area, where they have been operating for months, although bombardments on three of the city's eastern suburbs — Shejaia, Zeitoun and Sabra — continued.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire had killed at least 20 people, including a four-year-old girl, across the enclave.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces were operating in Jabalia and the outskirts of Gaza City to "dismantle terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists".
It said it had killed a senior Hamas militant, Mahmoud Al-Aswad, who served as the group's head of general security intelligence for the West Gaza area, on 22 August. Hamas has not confirmed his death.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' October 7 attack in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
