‘Gaza is being strangled’

The UN yesterday warned that "many more will die" in Gaza from catastrophic shortages as Israeli air and ground forces stepped up operations in the Palestinian enclave.

And it raised the alarm over "war crimes" being committed as the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict raged into its 21st day as the army said its troops had mounted another brief land incursion into Gaza as it prepares for a ground offensive.

"In the last hours, we intensified the attacks in Gaza," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel's chief military spokesperson, told a televised news briefing amid reports of heavy bombing of the besieged enclave.

He said the air force was conducting extensive strikes on tunnels and other infrastructure.

"In addition to the attacks carried out in the last few days, ground forces are expanding their operations tonight," he said.

Internet and mobile phone services were cut off in the Palestinian territory, a local telecoms firm and the Red Cross said.

Concern is growing about regional fallout from the conflict, with the United States warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it says were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others.

Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says the strikes have now killed 7,326 people. Of them, more than 3,000 are children.

"People in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

"Gaza is being strangled," he added.

Israel has cut supplies of food, water and power to Gaza, notably blocking all deliveries of fuel saying it would be exploited by Hamas to manufacture weapons and explosives.

"Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage," Lazzarini said of the overcrowded territory where 45 percent of housing is reported to have been damaged or destroyed.

In Geneva, the UN human rights office raised the alarm over war crimes committed by both parties.

"Nowhere is safe in Gaza. Compelling people to evacuate in these circumstances... and while under a complete siege raises serious concerns over forcible transfer, which is a war crime," she said of Israel's order for northern Gaza residents to flee south.

And a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding for Gazans who were "being collectively punished" which "is a war crime", she said.

A first tranche of critically needed aid was allowed in at the weekend but since then only 74 trucks have crossed. Before the conflict, the UN says an average of 500 trucks were entering Gaza every day.

"These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference," Lazzarini said.

Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close, and UNRWA said it has had to "significantly reduce its operations".

The agency also said 57 of its staff had been killed since the war began.

During the day, Hamas fired rockets towards Tel Aviv, where people could be seen running for cover as sirens wailed, AFP correspondents said. One stuck the city, wounding three people, one moderately and two lightly, medics said.

Despite Israel's call for civilians in northern Gaza to move south for their safety, strikes have continued to hit southern areas, with many saying they could find nowhere to shelter.

"Wherever we go, we will die," said Rahma Saqallah who fled her Gaza City home to go south with her family but decided to turn back after strikes killed her husband and three of her children.

"They told us to leave for the south and then they killed us (here)," she said on leaving the southern town of Khan Yunis to head home with her one remaining child.

Violence has also risen sharply in the occupied West Bank since the October 7 attacks, with more than 100 Palestinians killed and over 1,900 wounded.

Another four Palestinians were killed yesterday during Israeli raids in the northern cities of Jenin and Qalqilya, the health ministry said.