New strikes on Gaza as the Strip becomes 'uninhabitable' according to the UN

On Saturday, Israel launched new strikes on Gaza, while the United Nations warned that the besieged Palestinian territory has become "unfit for habitation." 

Journalists at Agence France-Presse reported that Israeli strikes targeted the city of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip early on Saturday, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks, trying to escape the clashes. 

On Friday, Palestinian medical sources reported 35 casualties in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. 

In northern Gaza, where the Israeli army launched its ground operation at the end of October, shelling operations continue. A resident of Jabalia (north) told Agence France-Presse on Friday after an Israeli airstrike, "The entire neighborhood is destroyed, and I don't know where people will go. Where will we live?" 

He added, "Look at this destruction. But despite that, we remain determined. We did not flee to the south or elsewhere. We stayed in the area (Jabalia), where our homes were." 

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, warned that the besieged Palestinian territory has "simply become uninhabitable."  

In a statement, he said, "Three months since the horrific 7 October attacks, Gaza has become a place of death and despair," and "Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence – while the world watches on." 

UNICEF reports that the confrontations, malnutrition, and health conditions have caused a "cycle of death threatening more than 1.1 million children" in this region that was already plagued by poverty before the war began. 

Israel pledged to "eliminate" Hamas after the unprecedented attack the movement launched on the southern part of the Israeli state on October 7th. 

The attack led to the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures. About 250 people were also taken hostage, and 132 of them remain in the Gaza Strip. 

The Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, accompanied by a ground attack starting from October 27th, led to the deaths of 22,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the Ministry of Health affiliated with Hamas. 

AFP