Israel’s renewed attacks on the Gaza Strip have continued for a ninth straight day, killing dozens of Palestinians, as the United Nations says more than 140,000 people have been displaced since last week.
The UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, said 142,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced since Israel resumed its war on Gaza on March 18.
“Fleeing with only a few personal belongings, many people are now staying on the streets, in desperate need of food, drinking water, and shelter essentials,” the agency said late on Tuesday.
Israeli attacks killed at least 39 people, including children, and wounded 124 across Gaza in 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Attacks were reported across the enclave, including in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, as well as Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
In Jabalia, Israeli military planes hit a house packed with civilians, killing at least eight of them. Among the victims was a six-month-old baby.
At the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, a residential flat was targeted, killing one child.
“This night has been marked by utter devastation, with Israeli forces bombarding densely populated areas in central and northern Gaza,” said Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“People here are quite terrified of what might come next as there’s been no breakthrough in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.”
Tens of thousands displaced
According to the UN’s OCHA, about 250,000 Palestinians are in the areas slated for evacuation in Rafah, Khan Younis and northern Gaza, including more than 50,000 people at 240 sites for internally displaced people.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City in the north, said displaced people were seeking all and any place that would provide “even just a little bit of safety for them”.
“They are moving into tent sites, overcrowded areas, they are moving into the near-collapsing, partially destroyed evacuation centres,” he said.
“They are lacking the most basic necessities to survive the difficult conditions, the by-products of displacement – hunger, thirst and trauma, and above all, the constant fear of being attacked in their tents.”
The displacement is being driven mainly by Israel’s forced evacuation orders and its destruction of homes and public infrastructure, OCHA said.
Since Israel resumed the war, its military has issued six notices, placing about 15 percent of Gaza under evacuation, it added.
Humanitarian aid in peril
Gaza’s remaining water system is also in peril, and will completely collapse if fuel supplies run out, all but cutting off people’s access to clean water, according to Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF.
The medical NGO’s statement came as Israel’s punishing blockade entered its 25th day. MSF said the lack of access to safe water is already having dire consequences for people’s health.
“The sheer number of children with skin conditions is a direct result of Gaza’s destruction and blockade,” said Chiara Lodi, the MSF medical team coordinator in Gaza.
“In addition to treating adults and children who have severe war injuries, our staff are treating an increasing number of children with entirely preventable skin diseases like scabies, which is not only uncomfortable, but in severe cases, sees them scratch their skin until it bleeds which can lead to infection.”
The siege began on March 2 after Israel reneged on the ceasefire deal and sought to extend the first stage of the three-phase agreement that expired – without committing to ending the war on Gaza.
On top of the number of civilians who have died, OCHA said at least eight aid workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its war last week, bringing the total number killed since the breach of the ceasefire to 399.