Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Central Gaza amidst Israeli Assault

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Thousands of Palestinian families fled from Israel’s expanding ground offensive into Gaza’s overcrowded refuges, as the military launched heavy strikes across the center and south of the territory, killing dozens.

Palestinian health officials reported that new arrivals in Gaza have crowded onto streets around the town’s main hospital, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, hoping to be safer from Israeli strikes. Israeli offensives are causing most of the population to move into Deir al-Balah and Rafah, as well as a small rural area. Israel has threatened greater military action against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, raising fears of an all-out war. The two sides have exchanged fire daily across the border, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned of “all options” if Hezbollah does not withdraw.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history, with over 21,100 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children. 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and a quarter of the population is starving under Israel’s siege.

Israeli troops have targeted refugee camps in central Gaza, causing over 61,000 displaced people to flee. Bureij, one of these camps, was heavily bombarded, prompting evacuation orders. In Deir al-Balah, families are sleeping on the ground, and Palestinians fear similar fate in other areas like Khan Younis. The Israeli military has deployed another brigade in the city, indicating the ongoing fighting.

Israeli shelling hit a residential building in Khan Younis, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said at least 20 people were killed. The military has been following the same pattern used in earlier phases of the ground offensive in northern Gaza and Khan Younis. Heavy bombardment targets Hamas’ tunnels and military infrastructure, followed by fierce urban fighting and airstrikes to force out pockets of militants. Israel has blamed Hamas for the high civilian death toll in Gaza because the militants operate in residential areas.

The army destroyed a network of tunnels in Gaza City that served as a command and control center, part of which ran under a hospital and had an exit inside a neighboring school. The military claims to have killed thousands of militants without presenting evidence and that 164 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive. Cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have escalated, with an Israeli strike on a family home in Lebanon killing a Hezbollah fighter, his brother, and his sister-in-law.

Since the Gaza war began, thousands of Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes, with at least nine soldiers and four civilians killed on the Israeli side and around 150 people on the Lebanese side, mostly Hezbollah fighters and civilians. Diplomatic pressure is running out, and if the world and Lebanese government don’t stop the firing on northern settlements and keep Hezbollah away from the border, the Israeli military will do so. Israeli forces have also killed at least six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with over 300 Palestinians killed since the war began, mainly in confrontations with Israeli forces.