Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.

The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”

“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.

A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.

HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED

Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.

Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.

Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.

The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.

In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.

On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.

“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.

Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.

Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.

i24 News – A Holocaust memorial in Lyon was defaced with an inscription of the words “Free Gaza” appearing to have been scratched into it, city officials told AFP on Saturday, adding to already existing concerns over growing antisemitic crimes in France.

A photo city officials shared with AFP showed the inscription apparently scratched with a sharp object into the black marble of a plaque on the monument.

“The vandalism of the Holocaust Memorial in Lyon is an intolerable act. I condemn it and express my full solidarity with memory associations, survivors and their descendants. The perpetrators will be sought and prosecuted. Lyon stands firm against hatred, antisemitism and racism,” the city’s mayor, Gregory Doucet, wrote in a statement sent to AFP.

The monument was opened in January 2025 in honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

“The fact that this inscription was made on a Holocaust memorial clearly constitutes an antisemitic act,” a city hall official told AFP. The official also said the municipality had the vandalism quickly removed.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar took to X after the incident, calling out France’s growing rate of antisemitic incidents and its negative reaction to the US Ambassador’s “unacceptable” letter last week about the issue.

“Desecration of a Holocaust memorial in Lyon, France. But when the US Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner expressed his concern about the rising antisemitism there – he was rebuked for interfering in ‘internal affairs,’” he wrote in his post.

Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Ofir Sofer, also said in response to the vandalism, “The French government, which is considering awarding a prize for terrorism in the form of a Palestinian state and is offended by the American ambassador’s interference in its internal affairs, must first and foremost fight antisemitism directed against its Jewish citizens. Antisemitism that has not been seen for decades.”

i24 News – Thousands of demonstrators gathered on Saturday at the Venice Film Festival, shifting attention from the red carpet to the war in Gaza.

The protest gained momentum after Venice4Palestine a coalition of Italian and international filmmakers, published an open letter urging festival organizers to denounce the devastation caused by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Marchers filled the Lido, where major premieres were underway with stars including Julia Roberts, George Clooney, and Emma Stone in attendance.

“Today, at the Venice Lido, one of the world’s most important film events is being used to distract people from what we believe is far more urgent,” said Emilia D’Aniano, a local student leading the march with a sign in hand.

Among those joining the demonstration was Italian actor Roberto Zibetti, attending the festival as part of three film productions, including the political drama La Grazia, which premiered the same evening.

The protest underscores the growing politicization of global cultural stages amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.