“Genocide is unfolding in northern Gaza in its clearest form, in full view of the world,” the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry warned in a statement on Sunday.
“The occupation army is forcing residents of northern Gaza to either flee under bombardment or face killing in what resembles a circle of certain death,” it said, adding that the failure of the international community to stop this “war of extermination has emboldened Israel to continue its deadly campaign”.
Civilians in northern Gaza are “trapped” in their houses amid “a mass blackout”. Food, water, and medicine have run out. While Israeli air attacks have hit several areas across Gaza, the concentration of its army attacks remains in the north, particularly Jabalia refugee camp.
Meanwhile, Palestinian women forced to flee north Gaza said the Israeli army is separating and arresting dozens of men at checkpoints.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has announced that Israel “may be causing the destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza’s northernmost governorate through death and displacement”, amid continuous bombardment across the besieged enclave.
Israel’s brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,600 people, mostly women and children, and wounded 99,800 others since October last year – although the numbers are likely to be far higher with thousands of victims buried underneath the rubble.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the UN relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, has described the toll of three weeks of “non-stop” Israeli bombardments on northern Gaza.
He said his staff are reporting shortages of water, food and medical care, with the “smell of death” everywhere across the territory because dead bodies are being left under rubble or lying on the roads.
“Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied. In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die. They feel deserted, hopeless and alone. They live from one hour to the next, fearing death at every second,” Lazzarini wrote on X.
He called for an “immediate truce” even if just for a few hours to enable Palestinian families to flee safely without being killed by Israeli bombardments.
“This is the bare minimum to save the lives of civilians who have nothing to do with this conflict,” Lazzarini added.
