The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that about 15,000 Palestinians were evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip on 7 November, three times more than the previous day.
They were traveling with minimal luggage within a four-hour time limit declared by Israel after running out of water and food in northern Gaza. On November 8, the AP news agency quoted OCHA officials as saying that the group included children, the elderly and disabled people and that they were mainly on foot.
Thousands of Palestinians live in the northern Gaza Strip, many of whom have taken refuge in UN hospitals or schools. The region has been facing shortages of fuel, water and food in recent weeks.
More than 70% of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people fled their homes after clashes broke out between Israel and the armed group Hamas on October 7. The increasing flow of displaced people highlights the increasingly desperate situation in and around Gaza City.
On 7 November Palestinians were evacuated to the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters
The Gaza Strip’s largest city was home to about 650,000 people before the conflict and is currently besieged by Israeli forces, according to the AP.
The Israeli military said ground forces have entered the center of Gaza city and the military operation has entered the next phase. The target of the attack is the maze of tunnels and Hamas command facilities in northern Gaza and the operation may take several months to complete.
Despite calls from Washington to end the conflict on humanitarian grounds, Israeli security sources said the military presence inside Gaza City made such a move risky and unlikely. This happens during this period.
Both Israel and Hamas have so far rejected international pressure for a ceasefire. Israel stressed that it would not do so until the hostages were released. Meanwhile, Hamas confirmed that it will not release hostages or stop firing as long as the attack on the Gaza Strip continues.
The White House warned Israel on November 7 about its plans following the conflict in the Gaza Strip. According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, President Joe Biden still believes that Israeli forces’ occupation of Gaza is not good for Israel and its people.
The statement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that Israel would take “overall responsibility” for security in the Gaza Strip for an “undetermined period of time” after the conflict ends.
The situation in the Gaza Strip is one of the main topics of discussion at the conference of foreign ministers of the Group of Developed Industrial Countries (G7) in Tokyo-Japan on 7 and 8 November. The conference ended with a call to stop the conflict so that humanitarian aid could be delivered to the Gaza Strip.
According to Kyodo news agency, G7 members also stressed the need for urgent action to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the land. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said the G7 also stressed the importance of complying with international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
