Reports of hundreds of fatalities from the deadly Israeli bombing in southern Gaza over the weekend have heightened deep concerns for civilians sheltering there.
UN humanitarian officials on Monday stated that aid teams had only “extremely limited” movement and access to the north was “now entirely blocked”. The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed rising casualties and devastation amid “heavy Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea”.
“From the afternoon of (Saturday) 2 December to the afternoon of (Sunday) 3 December, at least 316 people were killed and at least another 664 injured in Gaza,” OCHA’s situation update reported. An Israeli soldier had been reportedly killed in the enclave at the weekend, and another had succumbed to wounds sustained previously.
The Israeli attacks resumed following the breakdown of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel last Friday, 1 December, which had allowed for the release of hostages taken from southern Israel. In Rafah city, civilians are being forced to flee due to airstrikes, with UNRWA reporting dire conditions and a lack of safe places for the population.
Humanitarian Crisis and International Response
Some 1.8 million Gazans now live in the south of Gaza following an order from the Israeli Defense Forces to residents to leave the north of the Strip in mid-October. OCHA also reported the Israeli military’s designation of an area in Khan Younis city for immediate evacuation. Before the onset of hostilities, this area housed nearly 117,000 people and 21 shelters with about 50,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Meanwhile, some lifesaving humanitarian supplies were reported to continue arriving from Egypt. The UN Security Council was set to hold closed consultations on the continuing violence in Gaza, indicating the level of international concern.
