News - Middle East: The United Nations says mass displacement across the Gaza Strip shows a sharp rise amid intensified Israeli attacks and mounting obstacles to humanitarian aid delivery.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq cited the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as saying that Israel continues its operations, including shelling and airstrikes, across the besieged Strip.

He said OCHA "reminds us that the UN and our partners have not been allowed to bring any food aid from Zikkim crossing into northern Gaza for more than two weeks amid the ongoing hostilities and destruction."

He added that many Palestinians remain in Gaza City and the north, while many others continue to flee southward.

Haq noted that partners on Sunday recorded some 6,900 displacements from north to south through four monitoring points.

"Overall, between mid-August and yesterday, almost 453,000 displacements were reported across the Gaza Strip, with the majority originating from Gaza City," the UN spokesperson said.

He added that people are seeking shelter in overcrowded areas and lacking in basic services and noted that “only 18% of the Gaza Strip is not currently subject to displacement orders or located within militarized zones."

According to Haq, over “40% of the humanitarian missions that required coordination with the Israeli military were denied" despite efforts to deliver aid.

He said, "Water trucking continues to be denied."

Half a million Palestinians trapped in Gaza City in just 8 square kilometers: UNRWA

Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that some 500,000 Palestinians remain trapped in Gaza City within an area of just 8 square kilometers as Israel is intensifying its attacks to occupy the city and displace its residents.

“In Gaza City, around half a million Palestinians remain trapped in an area of less than eight square kilometers,” UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said in remarks republished by the agency on X.

“Around 70,000 people will be crammed into each square kilometer. There’s no space for a single tent. Tens of thousands of families are left without shelter on the streets.”

Israel currently controls most of 74.6 square kilometers of Gaza City and is gradually expanding its grip under a plan announced in August to occupy the entire city.

In August, Israel’s so-called “political-security cabinet” approved a plan to occupy Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the regime’s intention to return the entire Strip to Israeli occupation, which triggered global outrage.

At the time, the United Nations called reports about a possible expansion of Israel's invasions in the Gaza Strip "deeply alarming".

The UNRWA spokesman has warned that displaced families from Gaza City to central and southern areas are suffering famine and stressed the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israel has fully closed Gaza’s crossings since March 2, blocking food and aid convoys and deepening famine conditions in the enclave. Only limited supplies are allowed to sporadically enter Gaza, and many are looted by armed groups.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian resistance fighters carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the regime in response to the decades-long campaign of death and destruction against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed nearly 66,055 Palestinians and injured 168,346 others, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry of Gaza.

Source: Press TV