Deir Al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Oct 15: Gaza’s 2.3 million civilians faced a deepening struggle for food, water and safety Sunday and braced for a looming invasion a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on Israel.
While hundreds of thousands sought to heed Israel’s order to evacuate the north, others huddled at hospitals there.
Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group.
A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks.
That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamas’s October 7 assault.
Israel dropped leaflets over Gaza City in the north and renewed warnings on social media, ordering more than 1 million Palestinians – almost half the territory’s population – to move south.
Hamas urged people to stay in their homes.
The UN and aid groups have said that such a rapid exodus, along with Israel’s complete siege of the 40-km-long coastal territory would cause untold human suffering.
The World Health Organisation said the evacuation “could be tantamount to a death sentence” for the more than 2,000 patients in northern hospitals, including newborns in incubators and people in intensive care.
Gaza’s hospitals are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, according to the UN, which said that that would endanger the lives of thousands of patients.
Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege, which has also forced the enclave’s sole electrical plant to shut down.
With some bakeries closing, residents said they were unable to buy bread.
Israel has called up some 360,000 military reserves and massed troops and tanks along the border with Gaza. (AP)
