After seven weeks of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip, there is no end in sight to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. Despite international calls for a ceasefire or at least humanitarian pauses, the situation continues to escalate.
On Saturday, at least 32 Palestinians were killed in south Gaza following Israeli airstrikes on residential blocks. The Israeli military issued warnings to civilians to relocate, but this has only added to the humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are forced to move yet again.
According to Gaza health authorities, the death toll has now risen to more than 12,000, with 5,000 of them being children. The dire situation in Gaza, worsened by the destruction of infrastructure and widespread displacement, has raised concerns about the immediate risk of starvation among the population.
In an effort to address the growing humanitarian crisis, Israel announced that it would allow fuel trucks to enter the Gaza Strip, at the request of the United States, in order to meet basic needs. However, the ongoing conflict has severely limited the delivery of aid to the region, exacerbating the dire conditions faced by its residents.
The largest hospital in Gaza, Al Shifa in Gaza City, has become a primary target in Israel’s ground assault, despite international alarm over the deepening humanitarian crisis. The Israeli military claims to have found a vehicle with a large number of weapons and what they call a Hamas tunnel shaft at the hospital, but staff at Al Shifa have denied these claims.
Violence has also flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where at least five Palestinians were killed and two injured in an Israeli air strike on a building in the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus.
With the conflict showing no signs of abating, and with casualties continuing to mount, the international community is left grappling with how to address the worsening humanitarian situation and achieve a durable peace in the region.