At least 400,000 people trapped, UN says, as Israeli forces continue raid in northern Gaza
Palestinian, UN officials say there are no safe places to flee as people ordered to evacuate
At least 60 people were killed in Israeli military strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said, as Israeli forces pressed on with a raid in the enclave's north where a UN aid official said hunger is spreading again.
The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them from regrouping. It has been overshadowed by Israel's conflict with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and plans to retaliate for last week's Iranian missile attack.
Israel has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia and nearby areas, but Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe places to flee to in the Gaza Strip.
"At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, posted on X on Wednesday.
Medics said an Israeli strike killed at least 15 people inside Al-Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital in Jabalia. The hospital houses displaced families living in tents.
3 hospitals ordered to evacuate
The Gaza health ministry said the army had ordered three hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate and that hundreds of patients and medics were trapped inside those facilities.
"The lives of dozens of patients are at risk because of the Israeli siege around those hospitals."
Israel's military says Hamas militants use residential areas as cover in densely populated Gaza, including schools and hospitals. Hamas denies this.
Gaza health officials said at least 32 people were killed in Jabalia and the nearby areas in the north, while the others were killed in the central and southern Gaza Strip. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strikes on Wednesday.
The Gaza government media office said at least 125 Palestinians were killed in northern Gaza areas in the past five days.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had received unconfirmed reports that dozens of Palestinians may have been killed in Jabalia and other areas of northern Gaza, but is unable reach them because of Israeli bombardments.
Lazzarini said some UNRWA shelters and services were being forced to shut down for the first time since the war began and that with almost no basic supplies available, hunger was spreading again in northern Gaza.
"This recent military operation also threatens the implementation of the second phase of the #polio vaccination campaign for children," he said.
Israel did not immediately comment on Lazzarini's remarks. Israeli authorities have previously said they facilitate food deliveries to Gaza despite challenging conditions.
Blocking aid agency a 'catastrophe': UN chief
In one Israeli strike overnight on a house in Shejaia, a suburb of Gaza City, nine people of the same family were killed, medics said. Others were killed overnight in central areas of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas exiled official Izzat El-Reshiq said in a statement Israel's escalation in northern Gaza aimed to punish residents for refusing to leave their homes.
He accused the United States of partnering with Israel in a "war of genocide" in Gaza. Israel has dismissed allegations of genocide, saying it is defending itself from militants sworn to its destruction.
The latest Israeli attacks come a day after UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he raised his concerns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about draft Israeli legislation that would stop UNRWA working in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Israel began its offensive against Hamas in Gaza after fighters from the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, the Gaza Health Ministry says. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the enclave has been laid to waste.
With files from CBC News