Over one million Palestinians remain in Gaza City and north, Government Media Office says
Gaza’s Government Media Office says more than 1.3 million Palestinians, including 350,000 children, remain in Gaza City and the north, despite Israel’s relentless bombardment and forced evacuation threats.
According to the office, Israeli authorities have reportedly warned that those who leave northern Gaza this time will not be allowed to return – a move rights groups say would amount to permanent forced transfer and a war crime under international law.
The so-called “safe humanitarian zones” in Khan Younis and Rafah, where Israeli forces have forced more than 800,000 people to shelter, have been bombed more than 100 times, killing more than 2,000 people, it said.
The office added that there is no functioning infrastructure, medical care, water, or electricity there, and accused Israel of deliberately cutting water lines to Khan Younis to make life “nearly impossible”.
UNICEF warns Gaza City ‘teetering on edge of survival’
UNICEF has sounded the alarm over an “impending catastrophe” for more than 450,000 children in Gaza City as Israel’s military incursion intensifies.
“The escalating military offensive is having devastating consequences,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the MENA region. Children are “teetering on the edge of survival as both famine and deadly violence spread”.
He highlighted the case of three-year-old Wesam, the sole survivor of a midnight strike that killed her entire family in Zeitoun neighbourhood, saying children face “near total collapse” of the remaining lifelines they depend on.
UNICEF confirmed famine in Gaza City, warning that some of the 2,400 children currently being treated for severe acute malnutrition could starve to death if treatment is interrupted.
The agency reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians and vital infrastructure, unimpeded humanitarian access, and safe evacuation for premature babies, injured children and those with disabilities.
“Over 50,000 children have reportedly been killed or maimed in less than two years,” UNICEF said. “How many more are needed before the world acts?”
MSF warns Gaza siege leaving wounded and malnourished children too weak for surgery
Doctors without Borders (MSF) says eight children aged 5 to 16 were medically evacuated from Gaza to its reconstructive surgery hospital in Jordan on September 10, in coordination with the Jordanian Ministry of Health.
Half of the children were malnourished – three with severe acute malnutrition – meaning they cannot undergo surgery until they regain strength. “They face not only complex injuries but also a long and difficult road to recovery”, said Izuddin Rawashdeh, a doctor overseeing the cases.
MSF said this is only the second time it has received Gaza patients in such critical nutritional condition and called it “a grim testament” to the impact of the siege.
Only 40 patients have been evacuated from Gaza to the hospital since October 2023, while the World Health Organization says more than 15,800 people are still waiting for urgent medical transfers.
MSF urged Israel to lift the siege, allow life-saving aid in, and facilitate medical evacuations with guarantees for voluntary return.
