GAZA: The Israeli army dropped thousands of leaflets over Gaza City on Wednesday urging all residents to flee a heavy offensive that has rocked the main city of the besieged Palestinian territory.
The leaflets, addressed to "everyone in Gaza City", set out designated escape routes to the south and warned that the urban area, previously home to more than half a million people, would "remain a dangerous combat zone".
The warning follows three partial evacuation orders and came as Israeli troops, backed by tanks and aircraft, have fought the Palestinian groups in the heaviest combat operations the city has seen in months.
In one operation, the army said it had killed militants and found weapons inside the long-vacated Gaza City headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Elsewhere across Gaza, deadly strikes have hit four schools used as shelters in four days, sparking international outrage.
The upsurge in fighting and displacement came as mediator Qatar was due to resume talks Wednesday toward a truce and captives release deal to end the war, now grinding on into its 10th month.
An Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea arrived in Doha for the talks, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of their sensitivity.
CIA director William Burns was also expected in the Qatari capital, after holding talks in Cairo on Tuesday.
The latest fighting in Gaza has newly displaced 350,000 civilians, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who spoke before the latest leaflet drop and said "there is absolutely no safe space in Gaza".
The UN agency's head of communications Juliette Touma said that it was hard to know if people were sheltering in the building "as we don't have regular access to Gaza City".
Israel has also imposed a punishing siege on Gaza's 2.4 million people, eased only by sporadic aid deliveries.
Independent UN rights experts on Tuesday accused Israel of carrying out a "targeted starvation campaign" that constituted "a form of genocidal violence".
Israel's mission to the UN in Geneva accused the panel's members of "spreading misinformation" and "supporting Hamas propaganda".
In Israel, meanwhile, protesters have regularly taken to the streets to demand the Netanyahu government strike a deal to bring home the captives. — AFP
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