More than 338,000 Palestinians have fled the Gaza Strip amid intensified fighting, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday.
An OCHA official in Gaza, Hamada Al-Bayari, called for a humanitarian truce to allow relief workers to assess the situation in Gaza. The OCHA spokesman spoke just after the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) had reported that more than 220,000 Palestinians had taken refuge in 88 schools in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA earlier said the agency had been compelled to close all 14 of its food distribution centres, forcing half a million people to stop receiving vital food aid.
The conflict escalated with the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltration into Israel by land, sea and air. Hamas officials said the attack on Israel was in response to the storming of the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and increased violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli army launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ brutal military attacks. The Israeli government later declared a total siege of the region, cutting off electricity and water supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in the area, which has been under severe conditions since 2007.
At least 2,540 housing units were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as a result of bombing in Gaza, OCHA reported, citing data from Gaza’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing. Another 22,850 housing units sustained moderate to minor damage, it said.
The UN agency also expressed alarm at the significant destruction of civilian infrastructure affected by the shelling. In particular, the agency said the airstrikes have damaged sewage facilities serving more than one million people, causing solid waste to accumulate in the streets, posing a health hazard.
