2023-11-08 09:09:04
KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians were fleeing the southern Gaza Strip on foot, carrying only what they could carry, after running out of food and water in the north, a United Nations agency said Wednesday. while Israel indicated that its troops are fighting Hamas insurgents inside Gaza City.
More than 70% of the beleaguered enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants have already fled their homes, but the growing number of people leaving for the south points to a totally desperate situation inside and on the outskirts of the largest city in the world. territory, subjected to intense Israeli bombing.
The war caused by Hamas’ lethal incursion into Israeli territory on October 7 has entered its second month and the humanitarian situation is increasingly complicated in the Strip with no end in sight.
Israel has stated that its war to end Hamas’ rule and crush its military capabilities will be long and difficult and that it will maintain some form of control over the enclave indefinitely. Support for the war remains strong inside Israel, where attention has focused on the plight of more than 240 hostages taken by Hamas and other insurgent groups.
Some 15,000 people fled northern Gaza on Tuesday, triple the number on Monday, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. They use the main highway that links the north and south of the enclave during the four-hour daily period announced by Israel.
Among those leaving are children, the elderly and the disabled, and most are carrying minimal belongings, the agency said. Some say they had to pass through Israeli checkpoints, where they saw people detained, while others raised their hands and raised white flags as they passed Israeli tanks.
Residents reported loud explosions throughout the early hours of Wednesday in Gaza City and the Shati refugee camp, which houses Palestinian families who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel during the 1948 Six-Day War. , which surrounded the establishment of the country.
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