UN says 400,000 Palestinians displaced since Gaza ceasefire ended
UN figures indicate that a significant number of people have been internally displaced in the Gaza Strip since the resumption of fighting there more than three weeks ago.
"It is estimated that nearly 400,000 people have been displaced in Gaza following the breakdown of the ceasefire," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in a post on X on Friday.
More than 2 million people live in the densely populated coastal territory.
The Israeli army regularly calls on people to leave areas where it wants to take action against the Islamist Hamas group – recently, for example, the majority of residents of the city of Rafah.
Fighting meanwhile continued with an Israeli airstrike on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 10 members of the same family, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday.
Several others were injured, the report added. No further details about the casualties were initially available. The Israeli military said it was reviewing the report when asked for comment.
WAFA also reported that two people were killed and others injured in a separate Israeli strike on a group of individuals in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
Gazans flee expanding strikes, suffer from shortages
According to the UN, around 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip have been displaced since the beginning of the war following the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.
During a two-month ceasefire at the beginning of the year, many internally displaced persons returned to their home towns. Israel resumed the massive attacks in mid-March after no agreement could be reached with Hamas on the conditions for an extension of the ceasefire.
For more than a month, Israel has not allowed any vital humanitarian aid into the sealed-off strip in order to put pressure on Hamas. UNRWA's X post stated this was "by far the longest blockage of aid and commercial supplies since the start of the war."
Aid organizations say the suffering of the civilian population is being significantly exacerbated as a result. They warn urgently against turning humanitarian aid into a weapon of war.
The Israeli government insists that stocks of food in the Gaza Strip will last for several more weeks, but points out the supplies are under the control of Hamas.
Egypt, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia condemn blockade
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia once again sharply criticized Israel's blockade.
"The entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza must not be conditional on a ceasefire. We call for pressure on Israel to ensure aid reaches the civilian population in Gaza," Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Friday.
The ministers also warned against any forced displacement of Palestinians.
In mid-March, several Arab nations presented the United States with a reconstruction plan for Gaza. The plan, drafted by Egypt, came in response to comments made by US President Donald Trump in February suggesting that the 2 million Palestinians from Gaza could be permanently resettled in other countries.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Atti added that Cairo, together with Qatar, is working on an agreement to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. According to Israel, 59 hostages are still in the hands of Hamas militants, of whom only 24 are believed to still be alive.
UN office: Gaza conditions 'incompatible' with life
The UN in Geneva expressed grave concern about Israeli actions in Gaza, saying the continued existence of Palestinians as a group was in jeopardy.
"In light of the cumulative impact of Israeli forces' conduct in Gaza, the office is seriously concerned that Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group in Gaza," Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told reporters on Friday.
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