Gaza Crisis: Thousands Turn Back as Shelters Reach Capacity

News Desk

New York: Israeli bombing continued overnight into Thursday in besieged Gaza, where some of the tens of thousands of displaced individuals have had to turn back after finding nowhere to shelter, according to UN humanitarian officials.

“Thousands are sheltering in UNRWA schools and government buildings,” UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, told UN News. They added that others “are already beginning to turn back, telling us of a lack of spaces in other areas.”

UNRWA reiterated that living conditions are “beyond unbearable,” with mountains of waste and rubbish piling up alongside roads and near makeshift shelters.

An estimated 85,000 people have left the Shujaiyeh district in eastern Gaza City over the past week, according to UNRWA.

Latest data indicates that by Tuesday, at least 66,700 more Gazans had been displaced from eastern Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, following new evacuation orders issued on Monday evening.

Beyond the UN’s premises-turned-shelters, many more families now live “in the skeletons of bombed-out buildings or among piles of trash,” UNRWA reported.

They echoed warnings from the UN health agency, WHO, of a rise in communicable diseases such as diarrhea and hepatitis, particularly among malnourished children with weakened immune systems.

“Military action in the Khan Younis area could further hamper people’s access to safe water at a time when the lack of sanitation is significantly contributing to the spread of disease,” UNRWA warned.

In addition to the deadly risks posed by ongoing Israeli bombardment at night, ordinary Gazans face the threat of unexploded weapons.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a nine-year-old girl was killed and three others injured when an unspecified device detonated in Khan Younis on Saturday, June 29.

“Unexploded ordnance poses an enormous threat to people, as families are forced to move to areas that have been bombarded or were the scene of previous heavy fighting,” OCHA stated.

UN mine action experts have noted that approximately 10 percent of ammunition fired in the conflict is expected to fail to detonate.

“This represents a lethal danger to civilians, particularly the many children who spend six to eight hours a day collecting water and food, often carrying heavy weights and walking long distances,” UNRWA said.

To assist the most vulnerable people in Gaza, the UN agency has continued to distribute water, food, and other essential non-food items with the help of partners.

However, the scale of needs remains massive after new evacuation orders were issued on Monday night for eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, covering about one-third of Gaza and representing the largest such order since October.

“UNRWA continues to deliver critical water, food parcels, flour, diapers, mattresses, tarpaulins, and healthcare, but it is becoming almost impossible for the UN to provide any kind of response due to the Israeli-imposed siege, lack of fuel, lack of aid supplies, lack of safety, breakdowns in law and order, increased criminality, and now further displacement orders,” the UN agency said.

These orders to evacuate “once again impact our safety to move and access the border crossing to receive aid.”

Latest data from Gazan health authorities indicates that nearly 38,000 people have been killed in the enclave and more than 87,000 wounded since the war erupted on October 7.

In a related development, OCHA reported that in the West Bank there have been 28 incidents of Israeli airstrikes since October 7, including two last week.

“Fourteen children were among the 77 Palestinians killed during these airstrikes,” OCHA reported in an update on Wednesday, also noting that at least 200 homes had been damaged during a recent operation by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm.