Gaza Conflict: Residents seek shelter as Israel intensifies bombing

Israeli air, sea, and land bombardment of the Gaza Strip intensified on Sunday, forcing Palestinian inhabitants to seek safety in an ever-smaller region of the south.

Residents said that the south’s Khan Younis and Rafah were the main targets of bombings. They reported that hospitals were having trouble keeping up with the influx of injured.

Following the breakdown of a seven-day ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists on Friday to facilitate the exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian inmates, there has been resumed combat.

It happened in spite of rising demands for Israel to stop harming Palestinian civilians coming from the United States, Israel’s closest supporter.

The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics reports that as of Sunday, more than 15,400 people had died in the nearly two months of fighting that started following a cross-border attack on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of over 200 more.

Israel claims that Hamas is a deadly threat to the Jewish state and that it is why it is taking action to destroy it. In the lengthy and bloody history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the current war has emerged as the bloodiest chapter.

Residents of Gaza expressed their anxiety on Sunday that an Israeli ground offensive was about to occur in the southern sections. According to them, tanks had blocked the route that connected Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, separating the Strip into three sections.

In a statement, the Israeli military gave the Palestinians orders to leave six localities in and around Khan Younis right now. It published a map showing the locations of shelters to the west of Khan Younis and south of Rafah, near the Egyptian border.

However, locals claimed that the places they had been instructed to visit were also experiencing attacks.

Residents reported that early on Sunday, Israeli tanks started bombarding Rafah’s eastern area. Israel did not immediately respond to that development.

Following hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the Israeli ground invasion in the north of the enclave, the inhabitants stated there was barely room for more displaced persons in the south.

Residents and representatives of the United Nations complained that the inconsistent availability of power and internet made it challenging to follow Israeli evacuation orders.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, announced on Saturday that his country was working with international organisations and the United States to establish “safe areas” for Gaza’s civilian population.

(With agency inputs)