The situation “is not just a catastrophe, it’s apocalyptic”, said Bushra Khalidi of Oxfam.
– ‘Death sentence for children’ –
An estimated 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced.
Blocked from leaving the narrow territory, they have turned Rafah, near the crossing with Egypt, into a vast camp.
The United Nations children’s agency said Saturday that nearly one million children had been forcibly displaced by the conflict.
With fighting intensifying in southern Gaza, where Israel previously urged civilians to seek shelter, children are running out of safe places to go.
“They are now being pushed further and further south into tiny, overcrowded areas without water, food, or protection, putting them at increased risk of respiratory infections and waterborne disease,” said Adele Khodr of UNICEF.
“The restrictions and challenges being placed on the delivery of lifesaving aid going into and across the Gaza Strip are another death sentence for children.”
As alarm grew over Gaza’s worsening humanitarian situation, Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi urged his forces to “press harder” in their campaign.
“We’re seeing more and more terrorists killed, more and more terrorists wounded, and in recent days we’re seeing terrorists surrendering — this is a sign their network’s falling apart,” he said at a ceremony in Jerusalem.
National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi told Israeli TV that 7,000 “terrorists” had been killed, without elaborating on the source of the figure.
In Tel Aviv, some Israelis held a pro-peace demonstration.
Hundreds of others gathered in what has come to be known as Hostages Square, calling for action to save the captives held by Hamas with signs bearing messages such as “They trust us to get them out of hell”.
The Israeli army says it has lost 93 soldiers in the campaign, with two others injured in a failed bid to rescue hostages on Thursday night.
Hamas said a hostage, 25-year-old Sahar Baruch, was killed in the operation, later confirmed by his kibbutz community in Beeri, one of the worst hit on October 7.
– UN force hit –
A rare UN Security Council vote on a ceasefire in the conflict was vetoed on Friday by the United States, whose envoy Robert Wood said the proposal was “divorced from reality” and would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.
Iran, which backs Hamas, warned of an “uncontrollable explosion in the situation of the region” following the veto.
Regular exchanges between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement have added to fears of a wider regional conflict.
Israel’s army said it retaliated on Saturday after unspecified “launches” from Lebanon, including with fighter jets.
A United Nations peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon was hit on Saturday without causing casualties, the UN force said, adding it was seeking to verify the source of the fire.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened on Saturday to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into Gaza.
Violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the health ministry said three people were killed on Saturday.
The military earlier said it has arrested 2,200 people in the West Bank, 1,800 of them Hamas members, since the Israel-Hamas war began.
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