Israel has announced preparations to force the Palestinians, “combat zones” in the south of Gaza from Sunday, a few days after announcing a new offensive to take control of Gaza City, the largest urban center in the enclave.
The army’s Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Saturday that residents would receive tents and other shelter equipment transported by Karem Abu Salem, or Kerem Shalom, crossing the United Nations and international rescue organizations.
The UN did not comment on the plan or on its presumed role in the supply of humanitarian aid.
The statement comes less than a week than Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the military had received the green light to “dismantle” what he described as two remaining Hamas bastions: Gaza City in the North and Al-Mawasi further south.
The army did not specify whether the refuge equipment was intended for the population of Gaza City, estimated at around one million people currently, and if the site to which they will be moved to the south of Gaza would be the Rafah area, near the border with Egypt.
The UN did not immediately comment on the Israeli announcement, however, he warned Thursday that thousands of families already enduring appalling humanitarian conditions could be pushed to the edge if the Gaza City plan is advancing.
The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, described the announcement of the army as “part of its brutal attack to occupy the city of Gaza” and “a blatant and cheeky mockery of international conventions”.
“Forcing people to flee in the middle of famine, massacres and trips is an in progress crime against humanity. Criminal behavior in Gaza is inseparable from daily crimes committed by the occupied West Bank,” the group said in a statement.
Israeli forces increased operations on the outskirts of Gaza City in last week. Residents of the Zeitoun and Shujayea districts reported arson and heavy Israeli fires.
An Israeli drone has targeted a group of people in the Asqaula region in the Zeitoun district, east of Gaza City, killing two and injuring several others, said WAFA news agency.
Another person was killed and three were injured when a house near the Al-Alami mosque on Azzzar street, also in eastern Gaza City, was affected.
The al-mawasi tents camp in the south of Gaza was also attacked on Saturday. An Israeli air raid killed Motasem al-Batta, his wife and their little daughter in their tent. The area was designated as a so -called “humanitarian” or “safe” area at the start of the war, but it has nevertheless been attacked several times.
A family neighbor, Fathi Shubeir, told the Associated Press that the displaced civilians lived in the densely populated region of Al-Mawasi. Speaking of the little girl, he said: “Two and a half months, what did she do?”
The War of Israel against Gaza has killed at least 61,827 people since October 2023. Malnutrition has killed 251 people so far, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Eleven people, including a child, have hungry in recent 24 hours, the ministry announced on Saturday.
At the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the life of more than 200 patients was suspended by a wire due to acute medicine and malnutrition shortages.
Director Mohammed Abu Salmiya said the hospital was overcrowded with patients injured in the midst of implacable Israeli bombing and that doctors were making an increasing number of amputations because they were unable to fight injury infection.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 14,800 patients need vital medical care that is not available in Gaza. However, leaving the band is not always enough to save a life.
Marah Abu Zuhri, twenty, arrived in Pisa on a humanitarian flight from the Italian government overnight on Wednesday when he was seriously emaciated. The Pisa University Hospital said it had a “very complex clinical image” and a serious waste, before it was discovered on Friday.
Director General of the Ministry of Health of Gaza, Mnir Al-Bursh, told Tel Aviv Tribune that 40,000 infants from the territory suffered from serious malnutrition in the midst of critical food shortages caused by Israel restrictions to Gaza.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent Hind Khoudary said that the reality of hunger in Gaza was “devastating”.
“Palestinians have no choice but to see their children die of malnutrition and famine,” she said. “The last people to be hungry were brothers and sisters, aged 16 and 25, who died on the same day.”
According to Amjad Shawa, director of the network of Palestinian NGOs, “only 10%” of the daily food supplies required in the territory, “while the health system collapses day by day and our capacity is very limited”.
He said that the War of Israel in Gaza destroyed its socio-economic structure, leaving the Palestinians in the territory “totally dependent on humanitarian aid”.
What makes in the country is “a very limited amount, which only keeps people alive (at a) a minimum level,” he added.
The United Nations warned that the levels of famine and malnutrition in Gaza have been at their highest level since the start of the war.
Families of 50 Israeli captives still held in Gaza were shaken by the recent version of videos showing their emaciated parents by pleading for help and food.
A group representing families urged the Israelis in the streets on Sunday. “Throughout the country, hundreds of initiatives led by citizens in suspense daily life and will join the fairest and most moral struggle: the struggle to bring the 50 hostages home,” he said in a statement.
Netanyahu rejected criticism that his plan to widen the military offensive would endanger the life of the remaining captives. The mobilization of the forces should take weeks, and the Israeli Prime Minister defended his decision, saying that he had “no other choice” than to attack Hamas in Gaza.