Conditions at the besieged enclave sharply deteriorate amid bombardment as Israel evacuates its communities on the Lebanese border.
Palestinians rescue a girl from the rubble of a building after an Israeli air attack on the Rafah refugee camp
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip are facing a “real catastrophe”, United Nations officials warn, as Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the occupied enclave rages on for the 11th consecutive day.
In a report on Tuesday, the UN said the Israeli army continued pounding southern areas despite previously telling residents to move south ahead of a looming offensive by land, air and sea on the tiny coastal strip of land.
It also stressed that “water remains a key issue as people will start dying without water”, a warning that came hours after the World Health Organization said there are only “24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left” in Gaza.
Residents of the besieged Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, have already been severely struggling with little to no water to drink, shower or do laundry. They are also facing grave shortages of basic supplies including baby formula and flour, with all supermarkets out of stock.
“Concerns over dehydration and waterborne diseases are high given the collapse of water and sanitation services, including today’s shutdown of Gaza’s last functioning seawater desalination plant,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said in Tuesday’s report. “Fuel reserves at all hospitals across Gaza are expected to last for an additional 24 hours only. The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at serious risk.”
More than 2,800 people, including at least 1,000 children, have been killed in Israel’s bombing campaign since October 7, according to Palestinian officials. Some 10,000 others have been wounded, with many remaining buried under the rubble.
The bombardment began after fighters from Hamas, the Palestinian armed resistance movement running the Strip, launched a surprise attack just outside the besieged enclave on Israeli territory. So far, at least 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and more than 4,000 injured, according to Israeli officials.
In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel has killed 61 Palestinians over the past 11 days in military raids and arrests in Palestinian neighbourhoods, towns and villages, the Palestinian health ministry said on Tuesday morning. At least seven of those were killed by settlers.
The latest deadly raid took place at dawn on Tuesday when the Israeli army killed 17-year-old Mohammad Melhem in a raid on the town of Halhul in Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.
In Nablus, the health ministry also announced on Tuesday the death of 72-year-old Sameer Sabra after he sustained an Israeli army gunshot wound on Friday.
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