About 100,000 Palestinians have arrived in Rafah, in the extreme south of Gaza, in the last few days, fleeing the bombing of the central part of that territory, according to the United Nations. About 85 percent of the population of Gaza has been displaced by the Israeli bombing and ground offensive.
Because of this, a large number of people are seeking shelter in zones that Israel has designated as safe, but which have also been bombed.
People arrived in Rafah by trucks, cars and on foot. Those who could not find a place in the already overcrowded shelters, erected tents by the roads.
“People are using every empty space to build shelters. Some are sleeping in their cars and some are sleeping in the open,” said Juliette Touma, director of public affairs for the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).
The Israeli offensive is now focused on the Bureig, Nuseirat and Magazi refugee camps in central Gaza, where Israeli warplanes and artillery have destroyed a large number of buildings.
Fighting continues in the north, and Khan Yunis in the south, where Israel believes Hamas leaders are hiding, is also under attack. Hamas continued to fire rockets, mostly at southern Israel.
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza, 21,300 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war, although it is unclear how many are fighters of the militant organization and how many are civilians.
