Israeli strikes pound Gaza's north

Israeli air strikes pounded parts of Gaza's biggest city on Thursday, Hamas said, after Israel's military declared an end to its operation in an eastern district that saw Gaza City's heaviest combat in months.

The upsurge in fighting, bombardment and displacement followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in late June that "the war in its intense phase is about to end".

It also came as talks were held in the Gulf emirate of Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal after more than nine months of war.

Gaza's ruling Hamas Islamists said troops had pulled back from Gaza City's eastern district of Shujaiya leaving behind "more than 300 residential units and more than 100 businesses destroyed."

Witnesses on Thursday said tanks and troops had moved into other Gaza City areas, and clashes between Israeli forces and militants were occurring. Explosions, artillery shelling and gunfire could be heard, they said.

Smoke rose over parts of the city, according to AFP correspondents.

Hamas on Thursday reported 45 air strikes in the Gaza City area, as well as in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where Netanyahu had said the intense phase of the war was nearing its conclusion.

 'Immense destruction' 

Israel launched its war on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

Hamas seized 251 hostages. Of these 116 remain in Gaza, although the army says 42 of them are dead.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 38,250 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The latest toll included 50...