Palestinians are enduring dire living conditions across Gaza amid an ongoing campaign of Israeli violence, the latest chapter of which was the launch of the “Gideon Vehicle 2” Operation, described by Israel as targeting the territory and its infrastructure.
The offensive has been widely condemned as an assault on unarmed civilians, yet the international community remains largely silent, offering only sporadic denunciations and isolated sanctions against certain ministers in Israel’s far-right government.
The campaign, widely viewed as an attempt to enforce displacement, is being broadcast in real time on social media and international news channels, exposing the human toll. International organisations still operating in Gaza, including the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, have warned repeatedly of the catastrophic humanitarian impact.
But Israel, buoyed by US support granting it a green light for its operations in Gaza, continues the offensive unabated.
Israeli forces are systematically attacking Gaza City and the wider territory, claiming to target tunnels and booby-trapped buildings. The military strikes are coming at the same time as the announcement from ten countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, and Portugal of their formal recognition of an independent Palestinian state ahead of the UN General Assembly’s annual session in New York.
Since last week, the Israeli army has intensified a campaign to demolish high-rise buildings in Gaza City alongside ground attacks. The city’s eastern suburbs, including Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa, have been heavily targeted, with troops reportedly planning to advance towards the central and western districts where most residents have sought refuge.
UNRWA reported last Sunday that 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza are now forcibly displaced and facing lethal conditions, whether due to direct Israeli attacks or lack of access to food, water, and medical aid, as Israel continues to block humanitarian assistance.
“UNRWA has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for over two years,” the agency said on its official Facebook page. “The scale of the suffering and destruction is unimaginable.”
“Tens of thousands have been killed or injured, including women and children,” it said, urging an immediate halt to hostilities. The Palestinian media have reported that as of last Saturday morning, 107 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
Salama Younes, a Palestinian journalist, told Al-Ahram Weekly about the hardships faced by Gaza residents, recounting repeated forced displacements from his home in Deir Al-Balah following Israeli bombardments.
Younes, now living in a temporary shelter in southern Gaza, said that “the situation worsens as the pace of killings and forced displacement accelerates. People do not know where to go or what to do after the evacuation orders. There is no safety for them or their families.”
Younes described the ongoing Israeli offensive as targeting one million residents in Gaza City, urging them to flee without any safe destinations. Families are left to walk long distances with no food, money, or shelter, facing a stark choice between survival and death, particularly as winter approaches.
NO SAFE PLACE: Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, stressed that Gaza faces a severe humanitarian crisis.
“Airstrikes are escalating in Gaza and the north, forcing more people to flee, uncertain of where to go,” Lazzarini said. Ten UNRWA facilities, including seven schools and two clinics serving as shelters, have been hit in the past four days alone.
UNRWA has been forced to suspend healthcare services at the Shati Refugee Camp, the only operational medical centre north of Wadi Gaza.
Water and sanitation services are operating at half capacity, with UNRWA’s 11,000 staff striving to provide essential aid despite dire conditions. Lazzarini warned that attempts to downplay the crisis and misrepresent UN investigations threaten to deny Palestinian suffering and strip residents of their humanity.
He highlighted that at least 2,000 desperate and starving people have been killed trying to access food aid, most of them near sites controlled by what he termed the “Gaza Humanitarian Institution,” which is managed by mercenaries.
Lazzarini called for safe, continuous, and broad humanitarian access, urging Israel to allow UNRWA and other international organisations to carry out their legally sanctioned work to protect civilians.
Amid the escalating conflict, Lazzarini underscored the bravery of Palestinian journalists documenting the crisis. “It is time to allow international reporters into Gaza to support their Palestinian colleagues before their voices are silenced,” he said.
Between 7 October 2023 and 10 September 2025, international organisations, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health, reported that at least 64,656 Palestinians have been killed and 163,503 injured across the Gaza Strip. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), among 60,199 documented fatalities as of 31 July, 27,605 were men, 9,735 women, 18,430 children, and 4,429 elderly individuals.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights records that from 27 May to 9 September, at least 2,256 people seeking food aid were killed under the Israeli military’s aid distribution system. This includes 1,172 near military supply sites and 1,084 along aid convoy routes. The majority of the casualties were older children and youth, with most reported deaths resulting from live fire.
Famine, classified as Phase 5 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), has been confirmed in the Gaza Governorate. According to the IPC, 100 per cent of 1.98 million people analysed in Gaza, Deir Al-Balah, and Khan Yunis are currently experiencing, or are expected to experience, crisis or worse levels of food insecurity between 16 August and 30 September 2025.
On 7 September, the UN under-secretary general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief coordinator warned that “there is a narrow window of opportunity” to avert widespread famine in Gaza.
OCHA reported that, as of 10 September, the Gaza Ministry of Health had documented 404 deaths linked to malnutrition, including 141 children, since October 2023. Updated data from 27 August show that four of these deaths occurred in 2023, 49 in 2024, and 260 between January and 27 August 2025.
CRISIS WORSENS: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza City threaten humanitarian operations conducted by UNRWA and its partners, serving nearly one million Palestinians.
Health and nutrition partners have suspended activities in primary care centres, and 12 of 49 outpatient facilities have ceased services amid ongoing airstrikes.
The WHO reported that roughly half of Gaza’s functioning hospitals are in Gaza City, accounting for 36 per cent of total hospital beds and 50 per cent of intensive care beds across the Strip.
Shortages of medication, fuel, and infection-control supplies have had devastating consequences for patient care. Individuals with non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart conditions, are increasingly unable to access prescribed treatments, threatening their health.
The WHO noted that ongoing attacks and resource scarcity have critically weakened Gaza’s health system, with 94 per cent of hospitals damaged or destroyed. The remaining hospitals are overwhelmed, treating mass casualties at an average of eight incidents per day.
The Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli hospitals in Gaza City are operating at over 300 per cent capacity, dealing with a continuous influx of complex injuries.
OCHA reported that acute diarrhoea remains among the most common health conditions, representing 37 per cent of total reported cases. Restrictions on chlorine supplies undermine household- and system-level water treatment, directly affecting drinking water safety and contributing to outbreaks.
Bombing and bloodshed are no longer Israel’s only tools in Gaza; mass displacement has become a central element of its military and political strategy. Although the Israeli army has repeatedly declared “humanitarian zones” or “safe corridors,” these areas are quickly targeted, turning displacement routes into traps.
OCHA stated that over 82 per cent of Gaza remains under Israeli military control, evacuation orders, or overlapping restrictions as of 20 September. Between 7 and 10 September, ongoing military operations in Gaza City, the source of 63 per cent of recorded displacements, forced people southward to Deir Al-Balah and Khan Yunis.
On 9 September, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation order affecting Gaza City and 67 UNRWA facilities. UNRWA noted that at least 197 of its facilities, over half of its Gaza infrastructure, fall within areas under Israeli military control, evacuation orders, or overlapping restrictions.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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