Key Points:
• Gaza is facing a dire humanitarian crisis, described as a “complete catastrophe” by aid workers, with tens of thousands of Palestinians attempting to flee south in search of safety.
• Hospitals across the Gaza Strip are running out of fuel, and their reserves are expected to last for only about 24 more hours. This fuel shortage is endangering the lives of patients and hindering medical care.
• The United States has issued a warning, expressing concerns that the ongoing conflict in Gaza could escalate into a regional conflagration.
• The international community is closely monitoring the situation, fearing further violence and instability in the region.
• Humanitarian organizations are urgently seeking support to provide immediate assistance, including medical supplies and fuel for hospitals, to avert a healthcare collapse in Gaza.The situation in Gaza has been described as a “complete catastrophe” by aid workers, with tens of thousands of Palestinians attempting to flee south . Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last about 24 more hours . The US has warned that the conflict could widen into a regional conflagration.
According to CNN, conditions in Gaza have deteriorated into a “complete catastrophe,” with serious shortages of clean water and food as tens of thousands of Palestinians attempt to flee crippling airstrikes and an imminent Israeli ground offensive .
Israel’s military said Saturday its forces are readying for the next stages of the war, including “combined and coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land” in response to the unprecedented October 7 terrorist attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls the enclave. At least 1,300 people were killed during Hamas’ rampage in what US President Joe Biden described as “the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust”.
The clock is ticking for residents fleeing south through the battered streets of Gaza after the Israeli military told civilians to leave northern areas of the densely populated strip. More than half of Gaza’s 2 million residents live in the northern section that Israel said should evacuate. Many families, some of whom were already internally displaced, are now crammed into an even smaller portion of the 140-square-mile territory. Civilians packed into cars, taxis, pickup trucks and donkey-pulled carts. Roads were filled with snaking lines of vehicles strapped with suitcases and mattresses. Those without other options walked, carrying what they could ⁴.
Further escalation of the long-running conflict now increasingly risks spilling over regionally, prompting the Pentagon to order a second carrier strike group and squadrons of fighter jets to the region as a deterrence to Iran and Iranian proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
(With inputs from agencies)
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