OAN Staff
10:00 AM – Friday, August 29, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have announced that Gaza City has been declared a “dangerous combat zone.”
On Friday, the IDF said that the pauses in fighting, previously implemented in certain parts of Gaza to allow humanitarian aid distribution, would no longer apply inside Gaza City as the offensive there has moved up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the body of Ilan Weiss, one of the 251 people kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, had been recovered within Gaza City.
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Netanyahu added that the remains of a second hostage were also recovered from Gaza and are undergoing identification by forensic experts.
The IDF stressed that it will continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance throughout most of the enclave, but not in Gaza City, while simultaneously pressing forward with “offensive operations against terror groups in Gaza to protect Israeli civilians.”
The IDF once again urged civilians in Gaza City to evacuate southward.
Also on Friday, the IDF reported that soldiers operating in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City spotted “a group of terrorists hiding in a military compound about 100 meters away.”
According to the statement, Israeli forces “called in an Air Force aircraft, which struck the building and killed the terrorists.”
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters launched a large-scale attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251. Israel has stated that 48 hostages remain in captivity, with 20 to 22 believed to be alive.
Israel has often stated that it seeks to prevent civilian casualties, but accuses Hamas of planting itself in civilian areas such as houses, schools, mosques, and hospitals to protect its fighters.
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