Military targets key humanitarian hub that was relatively unscathed by war after ordering Palestinians to leave
Israel has launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza, targeting Deir al-Balah, the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian territory, amid growing warnings of widening starvation in the coastal strip.
The latest assault comes a day after the highest death toll in 21 months inflicted by the Israeli military on desperate Palestinians seeking food aid, with at least 85 killed on Sunday in what has become a grim and almost daily slaughter.
The UN food agency, the World Food Programme, said the majority of those killed on Sunday had gathered near the border fence with Israel in the hope of getting flour from a UN aid convoy when they were fired on by Israeli tanks and snipers.
Witnesses described massive airstrikes overnight in Deir al-Balah – the last remaining area of Gaza that has not suffered significant war damage.
Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is that they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive.
Israel launched its renewed assault despite reports in the Hebrew media that Israeli officials believed Hamas was close to agreeing to a ceasefire.
The latest Israeli assault followed forced evacuation orders for between 50,000-80,000 people in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, leaving almost 87% of the territory under such orders.
“With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones has risen to 87.8%, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the strip, where essential services have collapsed,” the UN said in a statement released by its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).
