ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Israel's defense minister says Gaza is burning. The military says it's begun a new large-scale offensive in Gaza City. Israeli attacks have killed more than 70 people in the city since midnight, according to hospital morgues. Palestinian rescue crews say families are trapped under rubble. NPR's Aya Batrawy is covering this from her base in Dubai. And a warning - there will be sounds of gunfire in this report. Aya, what can you tell us about Israel's push into Gaza City today?
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Well, the military began operating on the edges of Gaza City about two months ago, and it is now pushing for the center, which is right up along the Mediterranean Sea. Now, in the past week or so, the Israeli military has leveled at least 15 high-rise towers in the city center, saying Hamas uses these buildings for their operations. Hamas says this is a lie and that Israel's trying to push people out of Gaza entirely.
Now, as of last week, Gaza City was estimated by the U.N. to be sheltering around a million people. That's half of the Gaza Strip's total population. But Israel's military says that several hundred thousand people have fled to the south, many of them on foot or using donkey carts, in just the past few days. Now, NPR can't independently verify that figure, but there are still hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza City, and many of them in areas that are being heavily bombarded. NPR reporter Anas Baba is among those in Gaza City, and he captured what it sounds like there. Have a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE BOOMING)
BATRAWY: So that was first the sound of helicopter gunfire, and then you also heard the sound of artillery there.
SHAPIRO: Now, what has the Israeli military said about the operation and how long it could take?
BATRAWY: So the Israeli military spent a large portion, Ari, of about 15 months of this war raiding Gaza City, shutting down hospitals there and cutting it off physically from the middle and south of Gaza. And the people who stayed put faced starvation during that siege. And as Israel was preparing for this operation on Gaza City again, U.N.-backed experts on hunger declared a famine in Gaza City. So there's a famine there now, according to them.
Now, Israel intends to keep control of Gaza City and maintain its occupation this time. They say they plan to dismantle tunnel networks there. But it has not answered questions on how long they think it could take to conquer and occupy the city. Israel's prime minister says this is a decisive moment in the war. Now, former top Israeli military generals say there could be thousands of Hamas fighters in the city, and that sets the stage for a high death toll among all who stay. Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin laid out the operation's goals to reporters today.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
EFFIE DEFRIN: Hamas continues to hold dozens of our hostages in inhuman conditions. Their safe return is at the forefront of our mission.
BATRAWY: But here's the thing, Ari. The families of those 20 hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza, who were taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel nearly two years ago, want a ceasefire not more war. They are concerned this offensive will endanger their lives, and some of them protested last night in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home.
SHAPIRO: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in the Mid East. He was in Jerusalem, where he expressed continued U.S. support for Israel's war, and then flew to Qatar today, which has been a mediator in the war. What can you tell us about where ceasefire efforts stand after Israel's attack a week ago on Hamas targets in Qatar?
BATRAWY: Well, that attack, as you said, targeted senior Hamas political leaders in Doha, Qatar, killing six people, but none of them senior. Now, Doha and Cairo are where Hamas and Israel have been holding indirect talks throughout the past nearly two years of war, talks that freed most of the hostages who returned to Israel alive - more than 140 of them. But Qatar's ruler told Arab and Muslim heads of state that had convened in Doha in a show of support last night that it is impossible to negotiate with Israel after it bombed his country. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said Israel doesn't want a ceasefire - that it attacked negotiators and the mediator, thwarting the talks in order to continue its, quote, "extermination of Gaza."
Rubio flew to Qatar today to try to encourage Qatar to continue its role as a mediator. But when Rubio stood with Netanyahu yesterday in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said that attack on Qatar sent a message to Hamas that they will be pursued. So there are no talks, only this deadly offensive now going forward.
SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Thank you.
BATRAWY: Thanks, Ari. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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