Middle East

Some 800,000 Palestinians have reportedly fled to the south, but many have not, in part because they say nowhere is safe as Israeli airstrikes in the south have continued to cause civilian deaths. The window to flee may be closing, as Israeli forces reached Gaza’s main north-south highway this week.

Gaza health authorities say that 8,306 people, including 3,457 minors, have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. UN officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless. We were unable to independently verify casualty counts.

Israel’s self-declared “second phase” of a three-week war against Iranian-backed Hamas militants has been largely kept from public view, with forces moving under darkness and a telecommunications blackout cutting off Palestinians.

Israel has allowed only a trickle of aid to enter. On Sunday, 33 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered the only border crossing from Egypt, a spokesperson at the Rafah crossing, Wael Abo Omar, said.

The bombardment over the weekend – described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war – knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to much of Gaza early Sunday.

Western countries have generally backed what they say is Israel’s right to self-defence. But there has been a mounting international outcry over the toll from the bombing and growing calls for a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid to reach Gaza civilians and ease the humanitarian crisis.

Anxiety over Hamas’ hostages reached a fever pitch on Saturday, as Israel intensified its air campaign and sent troops into Gaza with heavy firepower. Crowds protested outside Israel’s Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, demanding that Netanyahu and other officials address the fate of their loved ones.

Israel’s Erdan said the country’s action has nothing to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict or the Palestinian question. “This is not a war with the Palestinians. Israel is at war with the genocidal Jihadist Hamas terror organisation,” he said.

Gaza’s war has already sparked conflict beyond the Palestinian territories. Israeli warplanes struck Syrian army infrastructure on Wednesday in response to rockets fired from Syria, an ally of Iran. Israel has also targeted Syria’s Aleppo airport and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.