Tens of thousands flee Gaza
By Samuella Antwi
Tens of thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City as Israel intensifies its ground and air offensive, now in its second day, with hospitals, aid agencies and international leaders warning of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe.
The United Nations estimates that at least 650,000 people remain in Gaza City despite heavy bombardment that has destroyed homes, targeted hospitals and forced mass displacement.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital, the only specialist facility for children with cancer and kidney failure, was hit in three separate attacks on Wednesday, damaging solar panels, water tanks and air conditioning units. Half of its patients were evacuated in fear of further strikes.
The Israeli military said it was “looking into” reports of the hospital strike but confirmed it had launched more than 150 strikes on Gaza City in two days in support of ground troops.
Other hospitals across northern Gaza reported at least 35 deaths from Israeli fire in the same period. Aid groups have described the attacks as “unconscionable,” noting that healthcare facilities are already on the brink of collapse.
Dr Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, warned that the attack on al-Rantisi jeopardised the lives of children suffering from life-threatening conditions.
Columns of Palestinians continued to stream out of Gaza City on Wednesday, some on foot, others in rickshaws, donkey carts or trucks piled high with belongings.
Until recently, evacuees were limited to the coastal road leading to al-Mawasi, designated by Israel as a “humanitarian area.” On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) temporarily opened a second route, the central Salah al-Din road, for 48 hours.
Yet for many, the journey south remains prohibitively expensive. Displaced mother Lina al-Maghrebi, 32, told the BBC she was forced to sell her jewellery to pay nearly £770 for transportation to Khan Younis. A tent for her family of five cost an additional £1,200.
Aid agencies say the “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi is already dangerously overcrowded and cannot sustain the nearly two million people expected to seek refuge there. Some families who fled south reported finding no space to pitch their tents and have since returned north.
The IDF claims that about 350,000 people have left Gaza City since August, while UN figures put the number closer to 190,000.
Israeli media reports suggest the IDF has deployed old armoured vehicles packed with explosives and remotely operated to target Hamas positions.
Israel says its offensive is aimed at eliminating an estimated 3,000 Hamas fighters in what it calls the group’s “last stronghold.”
Meanwhile, families of the remaining 48 Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, protested in Jerusalem, warning that the offensive risks their loved ones’ lives.
The escalation has drawn condemnation worldwide. Pope Leo XIV described the conditions in Gaza as “unacceptable,” urging an immediate ceasefire.
The European Commission has proposed sanctions against Israel, including suspending parts of its EU trade agreement and targeting extremist ministers and violent settlers.
On Tuesday, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, citing sexual violence, the targeting of children and systematic attacks on cultural and religious sites. Israel rejected the findings as “distorted and false.”
Since the start of the war, triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 taken hostage, at least 64,964 Palestinians, nearly half of them women and children, have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
