Israel has escalated its offensive in and around Gaza’s second-largest city, prompting the United Nations to expect one million Palestinians to seek refuge in Rafah in the coming days. Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the Israeli army’s chief of general staff, announced the next phase of Israel’s ground offensive against the Palestinian group Hamas, stating that Israeli forces are now encircling the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip. This comes after a pause in hostilities collapsed on Friday, leading to the exchange of captives held in Gaza for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed to have engaged in fighting against the Israeli army in all areas of the Strip since Tuesday morning. They reported destroying 24 army vehicles in Khan Younis and causing casualties among Israeli soldiers. However, the situation for Palestinians in the area is dire. More than one million Palestinians have been displaced from northern Gaza since October 13, when the Israeli military ordered their evacuation to the south on short notice. Now, families in Khan Younis are being forced to pack up again and head further south to Rafah, a town on the Egyptian border.
Rafah, which is already crowded with people lacking basic services like water and sanitation, is expected to become the last shelter for Palestinians. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the situation is worsening by the hour, with intensified bombing and a potential spread of diseases. WHO has observed an increase in infectious diseases, including respiratory infections, scabies, and diarrhea. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza is struggling to provide for the internally displaced people (IDPs) already in Rafah and will not be able to cope with a doubling of its IDP population. Aid trucks entering Gaza daily via the Rafah border are insufficient to meet the needs of those displaced.
At the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha, Qatar’s emir denounced the situation, calling it a “genocide committed by Israel.” He criticized the international community for allowing the heinous crimes to continue and the purposeful killing of innocent unarmed civilians. Local residents in the north of Gaza, where the ground invasion began over a month ago, also described harrowing conditions. The Kamal Adwan Hospital, which hosts thousands of refugees seeking safety, has been besieged by Israeli occupation forces. The Health Ministry in Gaza has recorded an unprecedented 203 attacks on healthcare facilities since October 7.
The ongoing escalation of violence in Gaza has raised concerns about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region. As Israel intensifies its attacks and Palestinians are forced to flee, the international community faces growing pressure to intervene and bring an end to the devastating conflict.
