This offensive risks displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians seeking refuge there from almost two years of conflict. Before the war, roughly a million individuals, making up nearly half of Gaza’s population, resided in the city.

The military has been conducting intense strikes on the city for weeks, advancing through the outer suburbs, and this week troops were just a few kilometers away from the city center.

Landmark Gaza City tower targeted

The military did not provide any evidence that militants were using the building.

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City, after the Israeli army delivered a prior warning. Source: AAP / Yousef Al Zanoun

Photos of the building taken before Friday’s strike showed that its roof was already heavily damaged from earlier raids.

Across the strip, 30 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military on Friday, including 20 in Gaza City, Gaza’s health ministry said.

New Hamas hostage video released

Palestinian militants took 251 hostages into the enclave following their cross-border assault on southern Israeli communities in 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and sparked the war.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal was at the Nova music festival in southern Israel when he was captured by militants amid their unprecedented attack nearly two years ago. Source: Supplied

The video was edited and featured an exhausted-looking Gilboa-Dalal speaking for about three-and-a-half minutes. He is seen in the back seat of a car for some of the video dated 28 August.

Gilboa-Dalal appeared in a video in February being forced to witness other hostages being released during a temporary ceasefire. Hostages who have featured in similar videos and have since been released have stated that their captors instructed them on what to say.