Automatic gunfire was heard in the center of the Gaza Strip early on Saturday, hours after the Israeli military said its forces had begun “mobilizing” as part of a broader plan to advance farther into the territory, seize more land and displace more civilians.
The shots could be heard from the central city of Deir al Balah, but the origin of the gunfire was unknown, and it was not immediately clear whether Israeli forces, which already hold large parts of the territory, had begun a new advance. The military did not respond to requests for comment.
The fighting followed intense Israeli bombardment overnight and came as mediators, including the Trump administration, sought to broker a new temporary truce.
Israel and Hamas have been at war since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militants launched an attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. The Israeli campaign in Gaza that followed has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Despite the immense toll of Israel’s military campaign, the fighting has failed to either decisively defeat Hamas or force the group to free all the hostages. In January, both sides agreed to a cease-fire that lasted for about two months before collapsing in mid-March.
Over the past few days, Israel has conducted increasingly deadly strikes across Gaza, killing more than 90 people on Friday alone, according to the Gazan health ministry.
The United Nations has warned that Gaza’s roughly two million Palestinians face widespread hunger amid a collapse in humanitarian aid caused by a blockade imposed by Israel in early March.
For over two months, Israel has barred food, medicine and other desperately needed supplies from entering the territory in an effort, it said, to pressure Hamas. On Friday, President Trump said that “a lot of people are starving” in the Gaza Strip, adding that the United States was working to alleviate the suffering.
Hamas has vowed not to release the remaining 58 hostages unless Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza. While Israel has killed many of the group’s leaders, Hamas has recruited new fighters who have continued the bitter war of attrition.
On Tuesday, Israel bombed sites near a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in an attempt to kill Muhammad Sinwar, one of the most powerful Hamas leaders remaining in Gaza. Neither Israel nor Hamas have publicly commented on whether he had survived.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
Patrick Kingsley is The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
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