Northern Gaza
\nPalestinians in Gaza have been left with virtually nowhere to go as the Israeli army continues its offensive in the enclave following the end of a truce with Hamas, a UN official has said.
\nThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is shifting its focus to the southern part of Gaza and has urged the population to evacuate. However, Palestinians and human rights groups have condemned the move after the area was initially declared a safe zone when Israel launched retaliatory strikes following the Hamas attack of October 7.
\nThe head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza (UNRWA), Thomas White, said on Monday that \u201cpeople are pleading for advice on where to find safety. We have nothing to tell them.\u201d
\nAccording to media reports, heavy fighting has taken place near the largest city in southern Gaza, Khan Younis, around 10km from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
\nThe IDF warned Gazans on Monday that some areas in the north and east of Khan Younis are \u201cextremely dangerous,\u201d offering them a way to a reach refugee camp in the Rafah district.
\nThe same day, White said the humanitarian situation \u201cworsens by the hour\u201d as another wave of displacement was underway and the roads leading toward the border crossing were \u201cclogged with cars and donkey carts.\u201d He added that even in Rafah \u201cthe sound of airstrikes punctuates the day.\u201d
\nThe UN official declared on Tuesday that Rafah, which normally has a population of 280,000, \u201cwill not cope\u201d with the influx as it is already hosting around 470,000 displaced persons. Meanwhile, Palestinian telecom provider PalTel announced \u201ca complete disruption of communication services\u201d in Gaza due to Israeli bombing.
\nThe company later reported that services in the central and southern regions of the enclave were gradually being restored \u201cafter being cut off from the Israeli side.\u201d
\nIDF spokesman Daniel Hagari earlier said Israeli troops will \u201coperate in maximum force against Hamas terrorists and infrastructures while minimizing harm to the civilians that Hamas places around them as shields.\u201d He added that Israel was \u201cpursuing Hamas in southern Gaza\u201d as it did in the northern part of the enclave.
\nThe latest updates from the Palestinian Health Ministry put the death toll in Gaza at around 15,900 people. Unnamed Israeli officials described the figures as accurate and confirmed that more civilians had been killed than Hamas operatives, AP reported.
\nThe official death toll of Israeli victims stands at around 1,200 since the conflict escalated. As of Monday, 401 Israeli soldiers had been killed, according to Haaretz. Israel says 137 hostages remain in Gaza, while 108 were freed by Hamas in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees during a week-long ceasefire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Northern Gaza Palestinians in Gaza have been left with virtually nowhere to go as the Israeli army continues its offensive in the enclave following the end of a truce with Hamas, a UN official has said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is shifting its focus to the southern part of Gaza and has urged the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-372560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n