This aerial view shows Palestinians gathered at a makeshift market set up in the midst of a war devastated neighborhood in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on April 2, 2025. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday,  a day after Israel said it would seize large areas of Gaza and establish a new security corridor across the territory as it expands an offensive and ramps up pressure on Hamas.

Hospital officials said at least 54 people were killed in the strikes. The figures could not be verified, and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Heavy strikes were reported in southern Khan Younis and Gaza City in the north.

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment on the strikes but issued an evacuation warning for Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood and nearby areas on Thursday ahead of a planned military offensive.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map of the area to be evacuated, saying that the military will soon operate “with great force” there to “destroy terror infrastructure.”

Civilians were called to head for shelters in western Gaza City.

People cry as Palestinians mourn over the bodies of loved ones killed in overnight Israeli bombardment on northern Gaza, at the Ahli Hospital, also known as the Maamadani (Baptist) Hospital, in Gaza City on April 3, 2025. (Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP)