The UN says the war has displaced about 85 percent of Gaza’s people and warns there is an urgent need for better aid access given the threat of famine and disease. The White House also said after Friday’s call that Israel would allow shipments of flour to Palestinians through its Ashdod port.
Nearly 20,000 children have been born “in hell” in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli offensive, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said on Friday.
A week-long communications blackout in Gaza has added to the challenges, although the telecommunications ministry and operator Paltel said internet services were resuming on Friday.
As the conflict escalates, Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has moved southwards.
Metawei Nabil, recently freed by Israeli forces and bearing scars on his arms, told AFP he was headed to northern Gaza “to face death” in the devastated southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt. Had fled from Beit Lahiya.
Some residents who fled during the early stages of the war in northern Gaza have begun to return to their remaining homes.
In Gaza City’s Rimal district, “everything has been destroyed and people are dying of hunger”, said Ibrahim Saada, who told AFP he had lost his entire family.
Despite the Israeli military saying it has destroyed Hamas fighting formations in the north this month, splinter groups of fighters are still confronting troops in northern Gaza.