Israel intensified its air and artillery campaign on 16 August against Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, with Palestinian and Israeli media describing days of sustained bombardment followed by advancing tanks and widespread demolitions. Aerial footage showed entire residential blocks flattened, and local rescue services said they were struggling to reach the wounded under continuous fire. Health facilities were again caught in the cross-fire. An early-morning strike hit an area near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, while later artillery and drone fire around Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Hospital reportedly killed at least seven people and wounded others. Separate strikes on the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood and the Nuseirat refugee camp also caused casualties, according to Palestinian reports, and emergency teams said repeated shelling was hindering medical evacuations. The escalation comes as Israel’s Chief of Staff is due on Sunday to present operational plans to Defence Minister Yisrael Katz for a ground takeover of Gaza City. Haaretz reported the bombardment is intended to clear the way for a full occupation and possible ‘population relocation’, a move that Hamas warned would deepen the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Parallel to the Gaza offensive, Israeli forces carried out a series of raids across the occupied West Bank. Troops entered villages and towns near Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron, triggering clashes with residents. In Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, soldiers shot dead 25-year-old Hamdan Musa Abu Aliya and wounded at least one other person, according to Palestinian health officials. After nearly two years of war, the United Nations and aid agencies have warned that Gaza’s civilian infrastructure is on the verge of collapse, with food shortages and limited access for relief convoys. Saturday’s surge in violence raised fresh concerns that a large-scale ground operation could further deteriorate conditions for the territory’s more than two million inhabitants.