Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing in south

Reports of hundreds of fatalities from bombing in southern Gaza over the weekend heightened deep concerns for civilians sheltering there, while UN humanitarians on Monday said that aid teams had only “extremely limited” movement and access to the north was “now entirely blocked”.

The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed rising casualties and devastation amid “heavy Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea”.

“From the afternoon of (Saturday) 2 December to the afternoon of (Sunday) 3 December, at least 316 people were killed and at least another 664 injured in Gaza,” OCHA’s situation update reported, adding that an Israeli soldier had been reportedly killed in the enclave at the weekend and another had succumbed to wounds sustained previously.

The return to bloodshed followed the breakdown of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel last Friday, 1 December, that had allowed for the release of dozens of the approximately 240 hostages taken from southern Israel during the group’s terror attack that claimed some 1,200 lives, according to Israeli authorities, and of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Health authorities in Gaza claim that more than 15,000 people have been killed since 7 October.