Israeli Tanks Poised for Gaza City Incursion Amid EU Sanctions Proposal

"...defiance of international condemnation..."

"...worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis..."

"...officially declared under famine..."

"...independent UN inquiry concluded for the first time that Israel has committed genocide..."

"...which Israel denied..."

"...bringing the death toll since the war began over 65,000 people..."

"...the ministry doesn’t distinguish in its reporting between combatant and civilian deaths..."

"...some 70% of casualties in Gaza have been women and children..."

"...unclear how many people still remain in Gaza City..."

"...much of southern Gaza is already overcrowded with the displaced..."

"...massive tent encampments throughout the city are still visible on satellite images..."

"...more than 350,000 people have left..."

"...CNN cannot independently verify..."

"...in what appears to be an effort to accelerate the forced exodus from Gaza City..."

"...thirty-year old Akram Abu Watfa told CNN..."

"...he and his family had slept in the streets of Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza City, for three nights..."

"...until they found a truck to transport some of their belongings..."

"...we arrived in Deir al-Balah (in southern Gaza) on an empty plot of land and are trying to buy wood and tent supplies..."

"...tanks have yet to enter the city..."

"...eyewitnesses told CNN Wednesday..."

"...Israeli tanks and troops are now gathered at the Sheikh Radwan Pond area, just north of Gaza City..."

"...satellite imagery from Tuesday showed tanks had advanced towards Gaza City from previous positions but had not entered the city itself..."

"...armored vehicles had moved about two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the direction of the Zikim Crossing on Gaza’s northern border with Israel..."

"...the Israeli military has amassed two major groups of armored vehicles in Sheikh Radwan, to the north of Gaza City, according to the imagery..."

"...with additional detachments of armored vehicles stationed along roads that lead toward Israel..."

"...the IDF says it has continued strikes against “Hamas positions” in Gaza City..."

"...including what it described as a weapons production facility that was hit Monday..."

"...it said Wednesday that air strikes and artillery fire had struck more than 150 targets throughout Gaza City in support of ground forces over the past 24 hours..."

"...the Palestinian health ministry said that among places struck was Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City..."

"...the enclave’s only specialist hospital for children..."

"...the ministry said the upper floors of the hospital, where 80 children were being treated, were hit three times..."

"...it did not issue details of any casualties..."

"...CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment..."

"...an NGO working in Gaza City, Medical Aid for Palestinians, said that emergency departments in the city’s hospitals were “overwhelmed with casualties and are working with severely depleted stocks of essential medicines and supplies”..."

"...global pressure builds..."

"...international anger at the Israeli operation in Gaza City continues to mount..."

"...the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday that it was strongly opposed to the offensive and urged Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza at once..."

"...Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Canada also condemned the Israeli offensive..."

"...the European Commission proposed new trade sanctions targeting Israel and far-right Israeli ministers in response to the ongoing campaign..."

"...if the measures are approved by the European Union’s member states, the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel will be partially suspended..."

"...last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Commission would propose to “suspend trade concessions with Israel, sanction extremist ministers and violent settlers, and put bilateral support to Israel on hold”..."

"...the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said “the aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza”..."

"...however, some member states have expressed reservations about such a sweeping move..."

"...the EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 32% of Israel’s total trade in goods based on 2024 data, according to the European Commission..."

"...Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Europe’s move was “morally and politically distorted,” adding that “moves against Israel will harm Europe’s own interests”..."