NewsRescue
According to a UN official, Palestinians in Gaza have been left with essentially no options as the Israeli army resumes its onslaught in the territory following the collapse of a truce with Hamas.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have shifted their focus to the southern half of Gaza and have advised residents to evacuate. However, Palestinians and human rights organisations have protested the move because the region was previously proclaimed a safe zone after Israel launched retaliatory strikes in response to the October 7 Hamas attack.
On Monday, Thomas White, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza (UNRWA), stated that “people are pleading for advice on where to find safety.” “We have nothing to say to them.”
According to media reports, heavy fighting has taken place near the largest city in southern Gaza, Khan Younis, around 10km from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
The IDF warned Gazans on Monday that some areas in the north and east of Khan Younis are “extremely dangerous,” offering them a way to a reach refugee camp in the Rafah district.
On the same day, White stated that the humanitarian situation “worsens by the hour” as another wave of displacement began and the highways leading to the border crossing were “clogged with cars and donkey carts.” Even in Rafah, he says, “the sound of airstrikes punctuates the day.”
According to a UN source, Rafah, which normally has a population of 280,000, “will not cope” with the surge because it already houses roughly 470,000 displaced people. Meanwhile, PalTel, a Palestinian telecom company, declared a “complete disruption of communication services” in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
Later, the business said that services in the enclave’s central and southern sections were progressively being restored “after being cut off from the Israeli side.”
According to IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari, Israeli troops will “operate with maximum force against Hamas terrorists and infrastructures while minimising harm to civilians that Hamas places around them as shields.” He went on to say that Israel was “pursuing Hamas in southern Gaza” just as it was in the north.
According to the most recent Palestinian Health Ministry reports, the death toll in Gaza is about 15,900 persons. According to the Associated Press, unnamed Israeli sources described the findings as accurate and acknowledged that more civilians were killed than Hamas operatives.
Since the battle began, the official death toll for Israelis has been roughly 1,200. According to Haaretz, 401 Israeli troops had been killed as of Monday. According to Israel, 137 hostages remain in Gaza.
