Gaza faces ‘desperate crisis’ as 120,000 displaced in days: UN
Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for OCHA, says the situation in the Gaza Strip is getting “more and more desperate”.
“As of yesterday, according to our estimations, over 120,000 people have already been displaced in a matter of just a few days,” Cherevko, speaking from al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, told Al Jazeera.
“The closure of the crossings is also contributing to the very dire situation on the ground as we continue to run out of supplies.”
After the renewed Israeli attack on Gaza, aid agencies are finding it “extremely difficult” to operate in the Strip, Cherevko said.
“These evacuation orders affect not only the people on the ground, but also the facilities we have already set up and that are operating,” she said.
“We’re in need of the international community stepping up and having our backs and supporting us in this endeavour, because if the situation is not reversed very soon, I think the stain we will have on our collective humanity will be absolutely indelible.”
Hamas says it has ‘no ambition to govern Gaza’
Earlier we reported on the comments by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Gaza and the now-shattered ceasefire in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson.
Witkoff’s “bridge” plan, presented last week, aims to extend the Gaza ceasefire into April, beyond Ramadan and Passover, to allow time for negotiations on a permanent cessation of hostilities.
Hamas responded to the remarks made by Witkoff in a statement:
- Witkoff’s proposal, along with other ideas, is being discussed with mediators and contacts have continued in an effort to finalise the agreement.
- Netanyahu is the one obstructing the ceasefire deal. The resumption of its implementation depends on his position. He prioritises the survival of his government over the agreement and the lives of captives.
- We are open to any arrangements for the administration of Gaza that are agreed upon, but we have no interest in being part of them.
- We have agreed to form a community support committee in Gaza that does not include Hamas.
- We have no ambition to govern Gaza – our priority is national consensus and we are committed to its outcomes.
- The resumption of the war occurred with American backing. The US administration must not take sides but should instead pressure the occupation to return to the ceasefire agreement.
International community needs to step in to stop Israel
The International Crisis Group is warning countries with leverage over Israel to urgently intervene so it stops the renewed attack on Gaza.
“Israel’s offensive will further render Gaza uninhabitable, increase the risk of famine, and again raise the spectre of Palestinians’ forced displacement from the Strip, with grave consequences for the region’s stability,” it said in a report.
It questioned the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu and its handling of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, saying it “appeared to unilaterally scrap the January agreement, substituting a much more limited deal with no guarantee of a stop to the bloodshed after all the hostages were let go”.
The US’s backing of Israel during the crisis was also highlighted in the report.
“Seemingly uncritical US support has allowed Netanyahu to abandon a negotiating process that commanded broad support among Israelis and throughout the region, and that Gaza desperately needed,” the International Crisis Group said.
“Arab and other concerned states should use whatever leverage they have to convince the US, which remains Israel’s primary ally and influencer, to curtail Gaza’s agony and dial down the risk of further destabilising the region.”
Report highlights Gaza’s dire water supply reality
Israeli attacks in Gaza have rendered about 85 percent of the enclave’s water and sanitation facilities fully or partially inoperative, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
‘I cannot comprehend the scale of mass killing’: Gaza medic
Health workers at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, where hundreds of wounded people arrived after Israel resumed its bombing campaign, say they’re struggling to manage the mass casualties with limited resources, forcing them to make difficult decisions about who to treat first.
“Child after child, young patient after young patient” were rushed into the facility, visiting British surgeon Sakib Rokadiya said. “The vast, vast majority were women, children, the elderly.”
Among the injuries he and other medics encountered were a young girl with shrapnel in her brain, a six-year-old boy with holes in his heart, and a 29-year-old woman with a crushed pelvis.
“I was overwhelmed, running from corner to corner, trying to find out who to prioritise, who to send to the operating room, who to declare a case that’s not salvageable,” said Haj-Hassan, a nurse at the facility.
“It’s a very difficult decision and we had to make it multiple times. I cannot process or comprehend the scale of mass killing and massacre of families in their sleep that we are seeing here. This can’t be the world we’re living in.”
At least 32 people killed in Gaza on Saturday: Medical sources
Medical sources in Gaza tell Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli attacks across the territory have killed at least 32 people since dawn.
