Death toll in Gaza rises
At least 64 people have been killed since the early hours of this morning by Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Strip’s Health Ministry says. A least 30 of the victims were in the north of the enclave, the ministry said.
Today’s most devastating attack, in which Israeli warplanes bombed Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killed at least 23 people, Gaza’s Civil Defence is also reporting, up from the earlier death toll of 19 that we’ve been reporting.
‘Many would rather face death than flee again’: Aid worker
Fidaa Al-Araj, who works as a gender adviser for Oxfam in Gaza, has – like many Palestinians – been displaced multiple times by the continuing Israeli assault.
“Imagine trying to move with four children or an elderly parent in the middle of the night, with no transport and nowhere to go,” Al-Araj said in a statement. “People are so exhausted, many would rather face death than flee again.”
Oxfam says that since March 18, when Israel broke the ceasefire, nearly 600,000 people have been displaced in Gaza, many of them repeatedly, subjecting them to ongoing trauma and suffering.
An Oxfam analysis found that since March 18, Israel had issued at least 30 forced displacement orders – almost one every two days, with some neighbourhoods affected multiple times. One of the most significant recent orders, issued on May 20, impacted about 10 percent of Gaza’s territory, affecting some 150,000–200,000 people in North Gaza’s Beit Lahiya and Jabalia.
While Israel was obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure displaced civilians had shelter, hygiene and protection, nearly all of the remaining areas where civilians are being forcibly displaced lack basic infrastructure like clean water, sanitation and medical care, the group said.
“In any other conflict, civilians would have routes to flee to neighbouring areas or countries. In this case, Palestinians are entirely caged under an iron-clad siege, being shoved towards the coastline,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“This annihilation campaign and the bloodshed must end,” she added.
Palestinians displaced by Israel take shelter in tents in Khan Younis
Multiple explosions near food distribution point in central Gaza
There have been multiple explosions near a food distribution point opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the centre of the Strip. That’s after Israeli shots were fired near one of their aid points in the south on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum has the latest from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Palestine:
The YouTube comments on anything AlJazeera publishes really make you lose all faith in humanity.
