AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Israel's military is gearing up to intensify the war in Gaza and to take over Gaza City, estimated to house around 1 million Palestinians. Israel wants all of them to evacuate to southern Gaza. For an update on this and other developments in the region, we're joined now by NPR's Daniel Estrin. He's in Tel Aviv. Hi, Daniel.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So, first, the takeover plans - where do things stand today?
ESTRIN: Israeli ground troops are positioned in two neighborhoods on the outskirts of Gaza City. They have been engaged in heavy bombardment there. This is being presented by the military as the preliminary stages of the Gaza City assault.
Israel has also stopped doing these daily 10-hour pauses in fighting. They had been doing that to allow trucks of food and aid into the Gaza City area, and Israel agreed to do that under international pressure to address starvation in Gaza. But they're not doing that anymore in the Gaza City area. Israel has declared the city a, quote, "dangerous combat zone."
Israel is also planning to phase out humanitarian aid to north Gaza, including Gaza City. And the point of all this, Ayesha, is to force Palestinians to leave if they wish to find food and safety.
RASCOE: So what does this look like on the ground? Are many Palestinians fleeing Gaza City?
ESTRIN: Some have fled Gaza City, especially the bombardment on the outskirts of the city, but there has not been a mass exodus of people from the city yet, even though Israel has issued many warnings telling them that leaving Gaza City is inevitable for them. And so this really is the central question now - will the million or so Palestinians in Gaza City actually leave? Hamas is calling on people to remain defiant and not to leave.
And many Palestinians may end up deciding there's no space for them further south in Gaza, where there's already - there are many tent camps that are overcrowded. And so all this can complicate Israel's plans with Gaza City because if Palestinians do stay when the army - if and when the army enters this dense urban area, it would be deadly.
Now, Israel presents all of this as a way to protect civilians from fighting, asking them to leave. But you do also hear Israeli voices - Israeli leaders voicing other goals, like taking over as much territory in Gaza as possible and finding countries that will take in Palestinians in order to reduce Gaza's population. The International Committee of the Red Cross says that a mass evacuation of Gaza City would be impossible to do safely.
RASCOE: There have also been some recent strikes by Israel against senior officials in the region. What more do we know?
ESTRIN: Yeah, Israel says the military targeted and killed the main spokesman of Hamas in Gaza this weekend. Hamas has not yet commented on that. Also a few days ago, an Israeli airstrike killed the Houthi prime minister of the rebel-controlled government in Yemen's capital. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and they have been launching missiles at Israel throughout the Gaza war.
The Houthi prime minister and other government ministers were killed during a Cabinet meeting that they were having. And a person familiar with the matter in Israel, who was not allowed to speak publicly, told me that this evening the Israeli Cabinet will be expected to meet in a secret location in case of retaliatory strikes.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Daniel.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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