Civilians have borne the brunt of much of the Israeli onslaught, which according to Gaza’s health ministry has killed at least 42,227 Palestinians over the past year, most of them civilians.
Gaza civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said a large number of people had been killed since the Israeli military operation against Jabalia began earlier this month.
A map showing the Palestinian territories, Israel and surrounding countries. Source: SBS News
“The number of dead is high, and people are under the rubble, missing,” Muhammad Abu Halima, a 40-year-old Jabalia resident, told the AFP news agency.
“The separation of north Gaza raises further concerns that Israel does not intend to allow civilians to return to their homes, and the repeated calls for all Palestinians to leave northern Gaza raise grave concerns of large-scale forced transfer of the civilian population,” it said in a statement.
As Israeli forces expand their raids into northern Gaza, concerns are mounting that these areas may become completely isolated. Source: Getty / Mahmoud Issa/Middle East Images/AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended the assault, saying troops were targeting militants.
On Monday, an Israeli air strike killed four people and wounded dozens of others when it caused a fire and hit tents of displaced Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Hospital, where over 500 people had been sheltering.
Israel says it made efforts to limit civilian casualties in the hospital strike.
Almost two million people displaced
Analysis of satellite data by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University, found 58.7 per cent of buildings in the Gaza Strip had likely been damaged since the start of the war.
Analysis of damage in Gaza Strip using Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.
A UN Satellite Centre assessment issued on 30 September found “two-thirds of the total structures in the Gaza Strip have sustained damage” after nearly a year of war.
Last year, Guterres described the “nightmare in Gaza” as a “crisis of humanity”, saying the territory had become a “graveyard for children”.
The Israeli military said it was “looking into the reports”.
A satellite image showing destruction around the port of Gaza City. Source: Supplied / Planet Images
A satellite image of the port of Gaza in December 2023. Source: Supplied / Planet Images
The attack comes just days after an Israeli airstrike on a school killed at least 28 people in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.
Israel’s military regularly accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter — a claim the Palestinian militant group rejects.
Life-changing injuries
The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than a quarter of those wounded have sustained life-changing injuries, including severe limb injuries, amputations and major burns.
The attacks have damaged 80 per cent of commercial facilities in Gaza, according to UN data. Source: SBS, AAP
Access to medical care is difficult, with the WHO saying just 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partly functional.
A 14-day siege around the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in March decimated much of the hospital and its surrounds. Source: Getty / Omar El Qattaa/Anadolu
A UNICEF official told AFP an estimated 19,000 children are unaccompanied or have been separated from their parents.
Israel’s operations have also seen it accused of genocide, although Israel has strongly denied the accusation.
Israel’s push for total victory continues
But Hamas has not been crushed outright, and fighters regrouping in pockets of the territory spark renewed offensives by the Israeli military.
Almost two million people have been displaced due to Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Source: SBS News
In recent months, Israel has broadened the conflict to include attacks on Lebanon, on 30 September.
With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse.
