Gaza Health Ministry says more than 63,000 Palestinians killed as Israel-Hamas war drags on

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) —

Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone and recovered the remains of two more hostages on Friday as the army launched the ″initial stages″ of a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.

As the military announced the resumption of fighting that could prevent residents from receiving food and other supplies, aid groups and a church sheltering people said they would stay, refusing to abandon the hungry and displaced who depend on them.

The shift comes weeks after Israel first announced plans to widen its offensive in Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands are sheltering while enduring famine and the military has recently ramped up strikes in neighborhoods on the city's outskirts.

As Israel announced the offensive’s initial stages on Friday morning, plumes of smoke and thunderous blasts could be seen and heard across the border in southern Israel.

Israel has in the past called Gaza City a Hamas stronghold, alleging that a network of tunnels remain in use by militants after several previous large-scale raids on the area throughout nearly 23 months of war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that crippling Hamas' capabilities in the city is critical to shielding Israel from a repeat of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

While United Nations agencies and aid groups condemned the start of the offensive, people in Gaza City said it made little difference because strikes already were intensifying and the aid reaching them was insufficient.

Mohamed Aboul Hadi said the suspension made no difference.

“The massacres never stopped, even during the humanitarian pauses,” he said in a text message sent from Gaza City.

Some refuse to leave as Gaza City assault begins

Facing international criticism, Israel instituted what it called "tactical pauses" in Gaza City last month that it said were geared toward letting more food and aid in. The pauses included a suspension of fighting from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., though aid groups have said deliveries remained challenging due to blockade, looting and Israeli restrictions.

Midday Friday, the military said it had suspended the pauses, marking the latest escalation after weeks of announcing preparatory strikes in some of the city's neighborhoods and calling up tens of thousands of reservists.

“We will intensify our strikes until we bring back all the kidnapped hostages and dismantle Hamas,” Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.

Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, has for days urged Palestinians in Gaza City to flee south, calling the evacuation “inevitable," even as aid groups warn of severe obstacles.

The United Nations said Thursday that 23,000 people had evacuated over the past week, but many Palestinians in Gaza City say they are exhausted after multiple displacements and question leaving when there is nowhere safe and any journey is costly.

The Holy Family Church of Gaza City told AP on Friday that the roughly 440 people sheltering there would remain along with members of the clergy who would assist them.

Farid Jubran said the church had left the decision up to the people even though they had few recourse to insulate themselves from fighting.

“When we feel danger, people get closer to the walls or whatever, it’s more protected," he said, noting the church had few specific defenses.

The UN’s humanitarian agency said its staff and NGOs also would remain on the ground.

Aid groups say they weren't notified

Israel introduced tactical pauses last month as it faced global condemnation over the humanitarian conditions in the besieged strip. As it suspended them on Friday in Gaza City, the military did not say whether they had notified residents or aid groups of the impending declaration ahead of the 11:30 a.m. announcement.

Norwegian Refugee Council, which coordinates a coalition of aid groups active in Gaza, said it had not received notification that Israel’s “tactical pauses” would be suspended.

Gaza City is home to much of the territory’s critical infrastructure and health facilities. The United Nations said Thursday the besieged strip could lose half of its hospital bed capacity during an expanded assault.

"We cannot provide health services to 2 million people besieged in the south," said Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson for Gaza's Health Ministry, noting a forcible evacuation of the entire population of the Gaza Strip's largest city would be an environmental and health catastrophe.

The suspension of the pause also comes one week after the world’s leading food security authority declared Gaza City was being gripped by famine after months of warnings.

Remains of hostages recovered

Israel on Friday said its military had recovered the remains of two hostages, including an Israeli man who was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.

The remains of Ilan Weiss and another unnamed hostage were returned to Israel.

“The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously. We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home — both the living and the dead,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement.

Weiss, 55 at the time of his death, was killed in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the southern Israel communities near Gaza that Hamas-led militants stormed on Oct. 7.

The day of the attack, Weiss vanished after heading to the community’s weapons storehouse to fend off the militants. His wife and daughter were also taken hostage and released after fifty days.

For the families of hostages, the return of their remains meets a central demand and brings a measure of closure, but also is a reminder of the bloodshed and the hostages who remain in Gaza.

“At least they have closure,” said Rubi Chen, whose son was abducted during the Oct. 7 attack and is believed to be dead. "There are still 49 families waiting to have that closure.”

Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants almost 22 months ago, roughly 50 remain in Gaza including 20 that Israel believes to be alive.

Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has organized large-scale protests demanding a ceasefire to return the hostages, mourned the losses and said Israeli leaders should prioritize a deal to return both the living and the dead.

“We call on the Israeli government to enter negotiations and stay at the table until every last hostage comes home. Time is running out for the hostages. Time is running out for the people of Israel who carry this burden,” it said in a statement.

Nearly 63,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. While the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, it says more than half of the dead were women and children.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the nearly 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, Israel believes around 20 are alive.

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Metz and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Shlomo Mor in southern Israel, Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.