GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES – The Israeli military warned on Friday it will operate with “unprecedented force” in Gaza City, urging residents to flee southwards while announc-ing the closure of a temporary evacuation route opened 48 hours earlier. Israel’s bid to capture Gaza City has sparked international outrage, with the territory already devastated by nearly two years of war and gripped by a UN-declared famine. It comes ahead of a planned move by several Western countries, including France and Britain, to recognise a Palestinian state next week at a UN summit. The United Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people were living in Gaza City and its surroundings.
