Overnight attacks by Israel on displacement tents caused fires to erupt in al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in south Gaza, resulting in a number of civilian casualties.
Clips shared online show flames engulfing the tents, as local sources noted that Palestinians attempting to extinguish the fires had to use primitive equipment, due to the absence of emergency crews after their repeated targeting.
The aerial assault on the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” follows several expulsion orders issued to residents of al-Zeitoun neighbourhood, in Gaza City.
The residents had been ordered to immediately head towards al-Mawasi.
The forced displacement spanned some 1.5 square miles across five neighbourhoods in Gaza and Khan Younis governorates, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) indicated in its latest update.
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Although al-Mawasi has been considered a “safe zone”, the Israeli military has repeatedly bombed the area over the past year and a half. Palestinians in Gaza, along with the UN, have long stated that there are no safe zones in the territory.
Ocha said late in July that “there is simply nowhere safe to go” in the Gaza Strip.
“About 88 percent of Gaza is either subject to displacement orders or located within Israeli-militarised zones. The 12 percent that remains is already overcrowded and underserved,” its report read.
Assaults on schools sheltering civilians
Safe zones and shelters across the besieged enclave, including those located in schools, have not been spared in Israel’s bombardment campaign.
Human Rights Watch indicated in a report on Thursday that Israeli attacks on schools sheltering Palestinians “highlight the absence of safe places for Gaza’s displaced people.
“Israeli strikes on schools sheltering displaced families provide a window into the widespread carnage that Israeli forces have carried out in Gaza,” said Gerry Simpson, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch.
‘Other governments should not tolerate this horrendous slaughter of Palestinian civilians merely seeking safety’
– Human Rights Watch
“Other governments should not tolerate this horrendous slaughter of Palestinian civilians merely seeking safety.”
According to recent figures from the Occupied Palestinian Territory education cluster, 97 percent of schools in the Gaza Strip have sustained some level of damage.
The assessment found that 432 school buildings sheltering civilians (76.6 percent of the total) have been directly hit by the Israeli army since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Overall, the Israeli army has killed more than 61,150 Palestinians since October 2023, including at least 18,000 children.
‘Systematic chaos’
The Government Media Office in Gaza has indicated that amid what it described as “systematic chaos”, Israel has prevented the entry of nearly 6,600 relief trucks.
So far, only 14 percent of the intended quota of humanitarian aid has entered the besieged enclave, as starvation runs rampant among the population.
Over the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry recorded four new deaths from malnutrition caused by Israel’s blockade on Gaza.
This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 197, with nearly half of the casualties children.
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“The Gaza Strip needs more than 600 trucks daily to meet the minimum needs of 2.4 million people, amid the near-total collapse of infrastructure due to the ongoing war and genocide,” the ministry wrote in its press release.
The Palestinian territory has been under complete siege since the war began, but Israeli officials have strengthened the blockade in recent months, leading to malnutrition and what the UN describes as a “worst-case scenario” of famine.
As Israel controls land entrances to Gaza and refuses to allow adequate aid into the territory over land, several countries have dropped aid over the territory from the air.
Aid groups criticise the strategy as inefficient and incapable of providing the level of food and other resources needed by Palestinians in Gaza.
Cindy McCain, director of the World Food Programme (WFP), criticised the relief distribution method, writing on X: “We can’t airdrop our way out of an unfolding famine. Not in Gaza.”
She explained that land delivery is the best method for aid to reach the majority of those who need it.
“We’re grateful for the support, but we can’t afford to wait – Gaza is out of food and out of time.”
