Devendra Kumar
Fears are growing in Gaza as Israeli forces widen their offensive against Hamas, targeting sensitive areas already packed with displaced people. United Nations officials warn that there are no safe places left in Gaza, and fighting has set off alarms internationally. Two months into the war, the humanitarian situation is dire, with more than 80% of the population fleeing their homes, and the UN is urging the Security Council to act to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel’s campaign has killed over 17,000 people, mostly women and children, and wounded more than 46,000, with many others trapped under rubble. The UN says the hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah has received over 115 bodies in a 24-hour period, and the medical group Doctors Without Borders has reported another 20 bodies arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The UN warns of a “catastrophic hunger crisis” and a lack of access to aid due to fighting and Israeli forces closing roads.
Rafah, a town on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, is now hosting more than 470,000 displaced people, with many more fleeing to the area. The UN says aid groups are only able to distribute supplies in and around Rafah, mainly flour and water, and access farther north has been cut off. Gaza has been without electricity since the beginning of the war, and hospitals and water treatment plants have shut down due to a lack of fuel.
Israel says it must crush Hamas’s military capabilities and remove it from power, but President Joe Biden’s administration has called on Israel to limit civilian deaths and displacement. The US administration has pledged unwavering support for Israel, but it is unlikely to block any UN effort to halt the fighting. The UN secretary-general has used a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending humanitarian catastrophe and urge members to demand a ceasefire.
Heavy fighting continues in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, and the military has accused militants of firing rockets from open areas near Rafah in the humanitarian zone. The UN says five schools where displaced people were sheltering in Khan Younis were completely evacuated after direct orders from the Israeli military. Thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians who reside near the border have evacuated due to rocket fire.
In a warning to the international community, Egypt has deployed thousands of troops and erected earthen barriers to prevent a mass influx of refugees, citing its decades-old peace treaty with Israel. Palestinian civilians are living in fear of their lives, with many forced to flee multiple times. “We live in fear every moment, for our children, ourselves, our families,” said Dalia Abu Samhadaneh, now living in Rafah with her family after fleeing Khan Younis. “We live with the anxiety of expulsion.”