JERUSALEM — Israel estimates that its imminent offensive on Gaza City would displace 1 million Palestinians, a senior military official said on Wednesday, as the Gaza Strip’s civil defense reported dozens killed across the territory.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli protestors took to the streets to call for a truce and hostage release deal after nearly two years of war.

Israel’s military has been building up its forces for the planned operation to seize Gaza City, the Palestinian territory’s largest urban center in its northern part, despite mounting global concern for Palestinian civilians suffering dire humanitarian conditions.

Military chief Eyal Zamir said troops were already “intensifying our combat operations,” an army statement said.

The senior official from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said “approximately 70,000” Palestinians had already left Gaza’s north in recent days, fleeing the Israeli advance.

Briefing journalists on condition of anonymity, the official said Israeli authorities expected “a million people” to flee south, without giving a specific timeframe.

The vast majority of Gaza’s more than 2 million people have been displaced at least once during nearly two years of war.

United Nations estimates saynearly a million people currently live in and around Gaza City, where famine has been declared.

In late August, an Israeli military spokesman said the evacuation of Gaza City was “inevitable,” while the Red Cross has warned that any Israeli attempt to do so would be impossible in a safe and dignified manner.

‘Waiting 700 days’

Families of hostages held in Gaza and Israeli antiwar groups called for a three-day protest in Jerusalem, culminating on Friday — day 700 since the Palestinian group Hamas launched its unprecedented attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The mother of soldier Matan Angrest, who is held in Gaza, appealed to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a news conference.

Israel expects 1 million Gazans to flee new offensive

“I have been waiting 700 days for you to get my child out of hell, and it is in your hands. I could see Matan again tomorrow, with a single decision on your part,” said Anat Angrest.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the Hamas attack, 47 are still in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

Last month Hamas said it had accepted a new truce proposal that would include phased hostage release.

But as mediators have awaited a formal Israeli response, Netanyahu said the war would only end on Israel’s terms as he pushed ahead with plans for the Gaza City offensive.

“Instead of seizing the agreement on the table to reach a comprehensive deal, you choose to continue sacrificing them, abandoning them,” Angrest said.

‘Red line’

Nira Sharabi, whose husband Yossi was killed in captivity, called for an end to the war.

“Military pressure endangers the lives of the hostages” and “jeopardizes the possibility of bringing back the dead” for burial, she said.

During the protests in Jerusalem, a bin was set ablaze near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, and the fire spread and destroyed a car belonging to a reservist.

Police called it “a red line that has been crossed,” while Justice Minister Yariv Levin denounced “terror” on the part of the demonstrators.

On the ground, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 62 people on Wednesday.

Umm Abd Abu Al-Jubain told AFP she lost her daughter, son-in-law and several other relatives in a strike on Gaza City., This news data comes from:http://052298.com

The bodies were “in pieces, and we pulled this boy out” from under the rubble, she said of her grandson, who survived the strike.

“Your father and mother have gone and left you, my dear,” Abu al-Jubain told the bruised boy, holding him in her arms.