Israel creating a ‘lifeless wasteland’ in swaths of Gaza City
The Israeli military is still expanding its ground operations in Gaza City and it is operating in key urban centres.
The campaign has been marked by the extreme use of firepower, where tanks backed up by infantry and bulldozers are moving into densely populated areas and forcing more and more families to flee to the south of the Gaza Strip.
This operation is casting its shadow over more than one million Palestinians. Tens of thousands are moving to the south on foot or in carts, looking for any place that is relatively safe – but with no guarantee of safety – or at least for shelter.
But most families who have arrived in the south have not found space. That’s why we’ve seen people setting up makeshift tents close to the water while others are left stranded in the street, living under the open sky.
Human rights groups are calling the Israeli tactics completely indiscriminate, but Israel is determined to expand its offensive in Gaza City, which it says is intended to break the grip of Hamas over the city.
But the impact on civilians is grave and nothing short of a devastating campaign that is leaving all kinds of destruction and a lifeless wasteland where there was once a vibrant community.
Gaza City’s last lifelines collapsing as Israeli attacks intensify, OCHA warns
The last lifelines for civilians in Gaza City are collapsing as Israel escalates its military assault, the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) warns.
In five days, 11 UNRWA shelters housing 11,000 people were hit, OCHA said. More than one million people have been displaced since Israel broke the March ceasefire, including 200,000 in the last month and 56,000 since Sunday alone, OCHA added.
Aid agencies are delivering wheat flour, food parcels, and nearly 560,000 meals daily, but OCHA accused Israel of “systematically blocking” efforts, citing the closure of the Zikim crossing and bans on certain food items.
“Opportunities to support starving people are being systematically blocked. Every week, new restrictions are imposed,” the agency said.
Closure of Allenby crossing leaves Palestinians with few options
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that the two people killed at the Allenby (King Hussein Bridge) border crossing with Jordan earlier in the day were actually two Israeli soldiers.
Subsequently, both sides of the border crossing were closed and the Israeli army conducted a raid and closed off all of the area surrounding the border crossing, meaning the occupied West Bank city of Jericho.
It’s worth mentioning that this border crossing is the only way both in and out for Palestinians in the occupied territory.
There’s no other way out for them. They cannot fly out of the airport in Tel Aviv because of the circumstances of life under occupation.
