UN agency says Israeli attacks displaced 657,000 Palestinians in southern Gaza

The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed Thursday that there are more than 657,000 displaced Palestinian residents in southern Gaza because of Israeli attacks, most without shelters, living in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

“Many families are sleeping on the floor around the UN agency shelters, which are already extremely crowded and exceeding full capacity,” Inas Hamadan, the acting media director for UNRWA’s field office in Gaza, told Anadolu.

“The arrival of further displaced people poses further challenges to UNRWA’s teams, which work around the clock to ensure delivery of humanitarian aid to the displaced people,” she added.

On Dec. 22, the Israeli army ordered residents of the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps in the northern region to immediately leave their homes and move to Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

“The humanitarian conditions in all of the Gaza Strip are catastrophic, the intensity of hostilities continue and the number of victims is increasing every day,” stressed Hamdan.

She noted that conditions in Gaza City and other northern parts are “catastrophic, and UNRWA teams can’t reach those areas.” She said the amount of humanitarian aid delivered is not sufficient to cover the increasing need in Gaza.

“There are currently around 1.4 million displaced people in the 156 UNRWA shelters,” said Hamdan.

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct.7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21,320 Palestinians and injuring 55,603, according to local health authorities.

Authorities claim the Hamas attacks have killed around 1,200 Israelis.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.