Gaza City, Gaza Strip: The societal fabric in the besieged Gaza Strip is showing signs of erosion as thousands of individuals resorted to raiding UN warehouses in pursuit of sustenance. This dire situation unfolds amid the relentless Israeli airstrikes and an expanding ground offensive, marking the fourth week of a harrowing conflict.
Thomas White, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), revealed that essential supplies, including wheat, flour, and hygiene items, were forcibly taken from multiple UN-administered facilities within the tightly blockaded 41km by 12km enclave, home to over two million individuals.
White expressed deep concern, stating, “This unsettling development signifies a breakdown of civil order after enduring three weeks of relentless warfare and a stifling blockade. The communities’ requirements for basic survival are vast, while the aid we receive remains modest and inconsistent.”
After enduring three weeks of a near-complete blockade imposed by Israel, basic services within Gaza have deteriorated considerably. The population faces a heightened risk of disease outbreaks as sewage inundates the streets, and critical resources such as food, water, and medicine dwindle. The United Nations has characterized this siege as a war crime. Israel has further escalated its already devastating aerial campaign, resulting in the loss of over 8,000 lives, according to the Hamas-administered health ministry.
Israeli ground forces have commenced a northward movement into the strip, particularly in Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, as described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, constituting the “second phase” of this conflict triggered by Hamas. Notably, on October 7, Hamas engaged in an unprecedented rampage, claiming the lives of 1,400 individuals in southern Israel and taking 230 hostages.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported targeting 450 Hamas-related objectives within the past 24 hours, encompassing command centers, observation posts, anti-tank guided missile launch sites, and another 150 subterranean targets in the northern region.
Reports of ground combat also emerged east of the Bureij refugee camp and the city of Khan Younis, historically known as approach routes for Israeli incursions.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society received orders for the immediate evacuation of al-Quds hospital in Gaza City. Munitions had landed perilously close to the site on multiple occasions during that morning. In response, an Israeli military spokesperson refrained from providing comment when confronted with this statement.
Hamas, like many urban militias, has been known to exploit civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and residential high-rises, for cover. Nevertheless, international entities, including the UN, emphasize that these structures primarily serve civilian populations.
Colonel Elad Goren, who heads the civil department at Cogat, a branch of the Israeli Ministry of Defense responsible for civilian operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, affirmed close monitoring of the humanitarian situation within Gaza. Plans are underway to facilitate a “significant increase” in aid delivery to the enclave via the Rafah crossing with Egypt in the coming days. To date, only 84 aid trucks have entered Gaza, a stark reduction from the daily average of 500 trucks observed before hostilities erupted.
Moreover, the IDF plans to establish a new humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, a city in the southern portion of the strip, which is declared as a non-target zone for Israeli airstrikes. Civilians are encouraged to relocate to this area.
Colonel Goren also accused Hamas of exploiting the civilian population in the area, claiming that the group hoards essential resources, including water, food, medical supplies, and petrol, in a bid to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis and impede the Israeli advance. Cogat, in coordination with the UN, asserted that there is no food or water shortage in the strip; however, access varies by region and is less accessible in certain areas.
While phone networks and internet services gradually recovered after a nearly complete 48-hour communications blackout, social media posts from Gaza fell into two categories: tributes mourning casualties from the escalated fighting and pleas for sources of clean water. Civilians in the southern portion of the strip, where the IDF has repeatedly advised evacuation, reported limited access to clean water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene.
The escalation in Gaza raises concerns about potential spillover conflicts, particularly along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where skirmishes have occurred between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. In response to these developments, the United States has deployed a second naval strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, serving as a deterrent to Iran and other actors within the anti-US and anti-Israel “axis of resistance” across the Middle East.
