At least 41 Palestinians were killed in pre-dawn Israeli air attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Among the dead was Hamas senior leader Salah Al-Bardawil, who was killed along with his wife in a tent shelter in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
Since Israel unilaterally terminated a two-month ceasefire last week and renewed its attacks on the Strip, 673 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,233 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
The Israeli army issued orders for the full evacuation of the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah in southern Gaza, designating the area as a “dangerous combat zone” and forcing thousands to flee their homes and face displacement during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
At approximately 2:20am on 18 March, Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza, shattering hopes for a lasting ceasefire and plunging the besieged enclave into yet another wave of destruction, as the Israeli Army launched sudden aerial attacks on heavily populated parts of the Strip, including Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir Al-Balah, Nuseirat, Bureij, Al-Zaytoun, Al-Karama, Beit Hanoun and Gaza City, ending a two-month-old ceasefire.
Hostilities erupted after ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the second phase of the hostage-swap deal, which took effect on 19 January, collapsed. Before the attack, Israel had tightened its blockade on Gaza, banned the entry of humanitarian aid and cut electricity since 1 March. The initial wave of attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 413 Palestinians, mostly women and children, health officials in Gaza said.
The Israeli offensive has dramatically worsened the already dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, pushing the besieged enclave into a renewed cycle of violence and devastation. Amid relentless bombardment, severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies, and the collapse of the healthcare system, civilians are bearing the brunt of the renewed hostilities in what has become an unlivable war zone.
Mohanad Mortaja, a high school student, described the 18 March attacks as the deadliest since the first weeks of the conflict that started in October 2023.
“It felt just like the first day of the war. My mother was preparing Sohour [the Ramadan dawn meal] for us as we sat together under the dim glow of a battery-powered light. It was a bitterly cold night, and we had only a little food to sustain our fast for the next day.”
“Suddenly, a powerful airstrike shook the ground, hitting a building at the end of our street. We screamed in terror, and our bodies trembled. In shock, my mother dropped the plates, while her hands shook with fear,” he added.
Hundreds more people were killed as Israel sent its troops deeper into areas it had already withdrawn from in the central Gaza Strip, and issued evacuation orders for several neighbourhoods in the wake of last week’s attack.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that leaflets were dropped over Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the shattered north of the Strip, as well as eastern Khan Younis in the south, ordering residents once again to leave their homes.
As the strikes continue, families are scrambling to find shelter. Hadeel Al-Madhoon, 56, from Beit Hanoun pitched her tent in the Islamic University courtyard in Gaza City. “Where will we go? I’m staying here, even though it’s all rubble,” she said.
“Every place in Gaza has been destroyed. This is the tenth time I’ve had to move, but it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s an evil world.”
The sight of tents filling the streets of Gaza is a painful reminder of loss. These are not just pieces of fabric, but stories of homes reduced to rubble, memories torn apart, and dreams cast into uncertainty. Each person in these tents once had a home. Now, the open sky is their only roof, and the streets are their only shelter.
Since 18 March, Gaza has been engulfed in a severe humanitarian crisis. Israeli airstrikes have resulted in substantial civilian casualties. The heaviest of the coffins have been the smallest, since 173 children have been among the over 400 Palestinians killed as Israel resumes its military operations, health officials in Gaza said.
Baby Banan Al-Salut never got to celebrate a single birthday, for example. She was born in the war and killed in the war. Images of her body in her rainbow clothing went viral and were among the first from Gaza after Israel broke the ceasefire.
Mohamed Naim Shaaban, nine months old, was killed alongside his mother, uncles, and cousins. Mohamed, Tareq, Lana, Aya and Wateen Al-Hamaedah were siblings who were killed by an Israeli airstrike while they were sleeping in a tent. Sisters Jannat and Misk were killed alongside their mother Shadha in Deir Al-Balah. Bisan and Ayman were siblings who were killed in Israeli attacks on Khan Younis.
Entire Palestinian families remain trapped under the rubble, while civil-defence teams race to respond to the pleas of others who have lost their loved ones due to the intensifying Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis rescue teams managed to pull a 25-day-old toddler, Ella Osama Abu Dagga, from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building after an Israeli airstrike. Sadly, Ella lost her brother and parents, and she is now in the care of her aunt Soad Abu Dagga.
Gaza’s Civil Defence Spokesman Mahmoud Basal warned of the devastating impacts of the massive Israeli campaign on Gaza’s infrastructure, pointing out that relief efforts to retrieve bodies from the debris are extremely difficult in the light of the continuous Israeli airstrikes and lack of equipment.
He urged the international community to take urgent action and ensure the swift delivery of humanitarian aid to address the growing needs of those affected.
The resumption of hostilities in Gaza has further strained municipal services, leading to increased displacement and infrastructure damage. According to American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), an NGO, as of 24 February Gaza City alone has seen the accumulation of approximately 170,000 tons of waste in streets and temporary landfills.
This crisis has been exacerbated by restricted access to the main landfill east of the city and the destruction of nearly 80 per cent of the municipality’s vehicles.
Between 2 and 15 March, the Palestinian Water Authority and the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility reported a daily average production of 127,022 cubic metres of water across the Gaza Strip. Of this, 33 per cent was sourced from operational seawater desalination plants and Israeli supply lines, while 67 per cent came from municipal groundwater wells.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a news briefing that the closure of the crossings into Gaza is severely disrupting relief operations and worsening an already catastrophic situation.
Humanitarian organisations have raised the alarm over severe shortages of essential supplies, including food, potable water, clothing, and blankets. The ongoing war and strict restrictions on humanitarian aid have also dramatically exacerbated hunger.
The people of Gaza are no longer looking for complete meals due to the depletion of stocks such as of flour and sugar and prices that have risen by about 300 per cent. Many families survive on barely any or no food.
Hana Said, 40, told the Al-Ahram Weekly that she can barely cook breakfast for her family. “We depend on lentils and water, if available. There are no vegetables, no meat, no chicken, and if they were available, I couldn’t afford to buy them,” she said.
Around 30 community kitchens that sporadically provided hot meals to displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip have been forced to close since 18 March. According to the UN, distributions have been interrupted due to the escalating violence and the location of distribution sites near evacuation zones.
Israel has breached a two-month truce and resumed a ground and aerial campaign in the Gaza Strip, saying it wants to push Hamas to release the remaining hostages in its captivity.
Israel says Hamas holds 59 more Israeli hostages in the enclave, 24 of whom are alive.
It has pushed the Gaza Strip into a new famine, as essential food supplies become scarce and unaffordable.
Palestinian analyst Akram Atallah, based in London, told the Weekly that Israel had already placed Gaza in a dire humanitarian crisis before resuming its military campaign by closing crossings, blocking humanitarian aid, and cutting electricity.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using food as a weapon against two million people living in war-ravaged Gaza to serve his political interests, both to appease his coalition and to support US President Donald Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from the devastated territory,” Atallah said.
According to Atallah, the key to ending the crisis lies in regional mediators pressuring the US into halting the hostilities in Gaza, resuming the ceasefire negotiations, and forcing Israel to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.
Since the resumption of the Israeli military operations last week, Gaza’s healthcare system has been critically compromised. The destruction of Gaza’s only specialised cancer hospital by Israeli forces has further diminished healthcare capacity, eliminating essential services for critically ill patients.
The international rights group Human Rights Watch condemned the devastation of infrastructure, severe resource shortages, and relentless hostilities that have left hospitals in Gaza overwhelmed and struggling to provide proper care for the sick and wounded.
According to the Health Ministry, 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and 113,274 wounded by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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