TRANSCRIPT
A warning - the following story contains elements that may distress some people.
Israeli tanks roll through the Gaza Strip while military jets continue a relentless air bombardment of the devastated region.
Despite mounting international pressure to halt military operations, Israel's plan to destroy Hamas, free hostages and seize full control of Gaza from the Palestinians continues at full force.
Israel has taken control of around 77 per cent of the enclave through its ground forces, evacuation orders, and repeated air strikes that have forced residents to flee.
Omar Shakir from Human Rights Watch says these attacks amount to war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
"Israel's new military offensive, Gideon's Chariot, amounts to an abhorrent escalation in the Israeli government's crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. They have reduced much of Gaza's homes, schools, and hospitals to rubble. It has carried out attacks that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. The new plan would destroy, according to Israeli officials, what remains of Gaza's civilian infrastructure."
Israel categorically denies their military are committing a genocide in Gaza.
54,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault according to the latest estimates from Gaza health officials.
In Gaza City, at least 20 people were killed and dozens wounded after health authorities say an Israeli air strike hit a school housing displaced people.
Medics say women and children were among those killed with some bodies badly burned.
Al Jazeera journalist, Hani Mahmoud, describes the scene.
"Many of the children are charred inside the classrooms as they were trying to pull them out amid heavy fire that was caused by the bombs. Given how overcrowded the school was, the number keeps increasing as time goes by and many of the people are still missing under huge piles of rubble caused by the destruction."
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the attack.
In another attack, nine of a Palestinian doctor's ten children were killed in an Israeli strike on their home in Khan Younis according to her colleagues and local medics.
Alaa Al-Najjar, a paediatrician at Al-Nasser Hospital, was on duty at the time and ran home to find her family's house on fire and her children, aged between one and 12, dead.
Her husband Hamdi Al-Najjar, himself a doctor, is now in intensive care.
Hamdi's sister, Tahani Al-Najjar, says the loss is indescribable.
"The area was full of smoke and the bombing was very intense, so I found my entire family's house collapsed. My house is on the street behind them and they are on the main road. I started asking 'where is Hamdi, where are Hamdi's children?' My older brother was coming to get me, so Hamdi's wife told me that her children have died. I couldn't bear to hear what she was saying, nor did I comprehend what was happening to us, because we were in a state of extreme fear and panic. It is indescribable. Praise be to God."
The Israeli military confirmed it conducted an air strike on Khan Younis, but claims it was targeting suspects in a structure that was close to Israeli soldiers.
The military says it is looking into claims that civilians were killed.
Naama Levy, a former hostage abducted by Hamas militants in their deadly cross-border attack in October 2023 and released this January, says she understands the terror of being under the Israeli air bombardment.
At a protest event in Tel Aviv, she says the scariest part of her imprisonment was when she was almost killed by an Israeli air strike.
"What frightened me most were the bombings. First you hear the whistling, praying it won't fall on us. Then the explosions— sounds so intense they paralyse your body, and the earth shaking. Each time, I was certain it was my end. In one bombing, part of the house I was in collapsed. Fortunately, the wall I was leaning against didn't crumble, and that's what saved my life."
Week in, week out, relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza have demanded that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign onto an immediate ceasefire deal that would see the release of the remaining captives.
Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of Abraham Munder who died in Hamas captivity, is calling on United States President Donald Trump to force Mr Netanyahu to prioritise the safety of the surviving hostages.
"Netanyahu is dragging us deeper into the disaster. Please, Mr. President (Trump). Placed the Trump deal for ending the war and returning the hostages on the table. Only you can force Netanyahu to sign a deal to end the war and bring our kids home. The war in Gaza must end now by signing a deal for the release and return of all hostages. We can and will deal with all other threats once they are safely returned home. The hostages must come first."
