Gaza residents reported another night of intense fighting and bombardment the length of the enclave on Friday, including in Sheijaia, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah, and Beit Hanoun in the north, and in the centre and northern fringes of the main southern city Khan Younis.
According to media reports, hospitals in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah reported a new influx of dead and wounded early on Friday.
The past two weeks have seen an intensification of combat since a week-long truce collapsed at the start of December, with Israel now extending its ground campaign from the northern half of the enclave into the south.
Gaza health authorities say close to 19,000 people have been confirmed killed, with thousands more feared buried under rubble.
The Gaza Strip turned into a ball of fire overnight, we could hear explosions and gunshots echoing from all directions,” Ahmed, 45, an electrician and father of six, told reporters from a shelter in a central area of the densely populated enclave.
“They can destroy homes and roads and kill civilians from the air or through blind tank shelling, but when they come face to face with the resistance, they lose.”
With an estimated fourfold increase in population density, exceeding 12,000 per square kilometre, Rafah is now the most densely populated area within the Gaza strip, the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) has said.
In a situation update, it stated: “Since Dec 3, tens of thousands of IDPs, who have arrived in Rafah, continue to face extremely overcrowded conditions both inside and outside shelters.”
The UN’s humanitarian office in Palestine has urged Israel to cease its “practices of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force” after its forces killed 11 Palestinians in Jenin in “apparent unlawful killings” between Dec 12-14.
In a statement posted on X, the UN office said the Israeli forces also “destroyed homes, shops, and other civilian infrastructure and arrested at least 800 Palestinians, raising concerns about collective punishment”.
“Such excessive use of force is incompatible with law enforcement and violates international human rights law and the law of occupation under which Israel has the obligation to protect civilians,” it added.
