Israeli tanks bombard Gaza City as more Palestinians flee

Israeli tanks and jets bombed Gaza City on Thursday, as the military intensified its assault on the territory's largest urban hub, news agency AFP has reported. 

AFP journalists and witnesses saw a steady stream of Palestinians heading south on foot, in vehicles and on donkey carts, in what top UN officials called "new waves of mass displacement".

Israel has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. At least 90 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, as the UN has formally declared famine. 

Israel’s finance minister on Wednesday said the Gaza Strip is “a real estate bonanza” and Israel has shared a plan with the US on how to divide it up. 

Speaking at a real estate conference in Tel Aviv, Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel had carried out “the first phase of urban renewal” by demolishing Gaza, and it was now working on a plan to start rebuilding it.