Palestinians check the damages after an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2023. (Photo by Said Khatib / AFP)
After eight weeks of war, interrupted only by a week-long humanitarian pause that ended on Friday, Israel’s war on Gaza continues to escalate, leaving death and devastation across the besieged strip.
At least 700 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours – one of the highest daily death tolls since the war began on October 7. From the north to the south, Palestinians in Gaza say nowhere is safe, reported Al Jazeera.
The Israeli military targeted the Jabalia refugee camp for a second day. Several homes were destroyed, killing dozens of people. More are buried under the rubble.
Israel has also called on residents from certain neighbourhoods in Khan Younis in southern Gaza to evacuate. Roads leading to other parts of the city or further south have been destroyed or heavily damaged.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said they were running out of places to go in the sealed-off territory that borders Israel and Egypt. Many of its 2.3 million people are crammed into the south after Israel ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the war.
More than 15,500 people have been confirmed killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
A Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson told Al Jazeera that conditions across Gaza are “beyond dire”, warning that rescuers lack the resources to reach all victims of Israeli bombardment.
“There are dozens of civilians being killed in every single air strike. Hundreds are also being wounded,” said Mahmoud Basal.
According to the United Nations, not a single hospital in the territory's north can currently operate on patients.
The most seriously wounded are transferred daily to the south by convoys organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross. But even there, the UN says, the 12 remaining hospitals are only partially functional, reported AFP.
