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A humanitarian crisis is swiftly unfolding in Gaza, as trapped residents, many cut off from food and electricity, face a fourth day of Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel, which killed at least 1,200 people per public broadcaster Kan, and took up to 150 hostages.
Nadine Abdul Latif, 13, of Gaza City’s Al Rimal neighborhood, said she and her family were told by neighbors and relatives to leave on Monday after Israel said it would target the area. But they decided to stay as “we have no safe place to go to,” she said.
Her father Nihad has been missing since Saturday. He had been working in Israel, but after Hamas’ Saturday attack, the family lost touch with him.
The Gaza strip – the coastal enclave that Hamas controls – has been pummeled by airstrikes since Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a “complete siege” on the area, including halting supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel to the enclave. “We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly,” Gallant said.
Israeli fighter jets struck more than 200 targets in Gaza overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. The death toll in Gaza now stands at over 900 people according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The Palestinian interior ministry said most of the targets were “towers, residential buildings, civil and service facilities, and many mosques.” Hamas denied that it used any of the targeted towers.
Tariq Al Hillu, a 29-year-old resident of Al Sudaniya in northern Gaza, described complete chaos when airstrikes struck his neighborhood Sunday morning.
“My family members began screaming and rushing out of the house, each of us fleeing in different directions,” he told CNN, adding that his entire neighborhood had been destroyed “without any prior warning.”
His neighbors were trapped under the rubble, and he could hear their calls for help, he said.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it has turned 83 of its schools in Gaza into makeshift shelters but on Monday they were already at 90% capacity, with more than 137,000 people taking cover from Israeli strikes.
Unlike cities in Israel’s south, the territory doesn’t have dedicated bomb shelters or bunkers that shield civilians from airstrikes.