Israeli military closes on Gaza City, starts new West Bank operation

Israeli tanks pushed into a new area on the edge of Gaza City overnight, destroying houses and prompting residents to flee, witnesses said.

In a separate development, the Israeli military launched an operation on Wednesday in the northern occupied West Bank, involving dozens of soldiers and armored vehicles in the old city of Nablus.

Late on Tuesday, tanks entered the Ebad-Alrahman neighborhood 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 Ebad-Alrahman, 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 Reuters via a chat app from his house in Jala Street in Gaza City, around one kilometre (0.6 mile) from the Ebad-Alrahman neighbourhood.

Israel has said it is preparing to launch a new offensive in Gaza City, which it describes as Hamas' 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.

Later on Wednesday, Israeli tanks retreated from the edge of Gaza City 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 August 22. Hamas has not confirmed his death.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing mounting opposition to the war. Thousands of Israelis rallied across the country on Tuesday demanding an end to the conflict and the release of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has yet to publicly respond to the latest 60-day U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, which it had previously accepted and which Hamas last week agreed to.

Israel army launches operation in West Bank's Nablus

The Israeli military on Wednesday launched an operation involving dozens of soldiers and armored vehicles in the old city of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, witnesses and Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli military confirmed that it was conducting an operation, without specifying its purpose.

The raid began at around 3am, residents said, with soldiers storming several neighborhoods of the old city, which has a population of around 30,000 people.

"The assault on Nablus is merely a show of force with no justification," said Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas.

Footage showed Israeli forces and military vehicles deployed on the streets of the city. One witness, who declined to give his name, reported that soldiers had expelled an elderly couple from their home.

Soldiers "are storming and searching houses and shops inside the old city, while some houses have been turned into military posts," Ghassan Hamdan, head of the Palestinian Medical Relief organisation in Nablus, said.

Daghlas said the army had informed Palestinian authorities that the raid would continue until 4pm.

Israel says killed Reuters and AP journalists were not 'a target'

Two journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press who were killed in an Israeli attack on a Gaza hospital were not "a target of the strike," a military spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday, adding the army chief had ordered a further inquiry into how the decision to strike the hospital was made.

Israeli forces struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people including journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other outlets.

"We can confirm that the Reuters and AP journalists were not a target of the strike," said military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani. Three other journalists were also killed in the strike.

None of the five journalists were among the six alleged Palestinian militant targets that the Israeli military named in a written statement, released on Tuesday. The statement included photos of six individuals who were killed, including alleged members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"At the same time, the Chief of the General Staff regrets any harm caused to civilians," the statement said, adding that the Israeli military directs its activities solely toward military targets.

Hamas challenged the Israeli account, denying that any of the Palestinians killed were militants. The Hamas government media office said in a statement that one of the six Palestinians who Israel alleged were militants was killed in al-Mawasi some distance from the hospital, and another was killed elsewhere at a different time.

In a speech on Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government condemned the "unjustifiable" killing of journalists in Gaza.