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Israel’s strikes in Gaza have dramatically increased, prompting renewed death and destruction throughout the region. This comes as humanitarian organizations and international allies express growing concern about the unfolding crisis.
The Israel Defense Forces stated that they had targeted over 450 locations in the past 24 hours—their highest number of strikes since last week’s ceasefire breakdown with Hamas. This surge in strikes coincides with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent expression of concerns over the gap between Israel’s intent to protect civilians and the actual results observed on the ground.
Israel has initiated a new phase of its war, launching a fresh assault in the south of Gaza following weeks of intense conflict in the north. The humanitarian situation is dire, with most Gazans displaced and unable to access aid, and the local medical system pushed to breaking point by an overwhelming influx of patients.
“Civil order is breaking down in Gaza—the streets feel wild, particularly after dark—some aid convoys are being looted and UN vehicles stoned,” wrote Thomas White, the Gaza head of the U.N.’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees, on X on Friday. “Society is on the brink of full-blown collapse.” He stated that his organization continues “to serve the population with what [limited] aid we have.”
According to Reuters, there has been intense fighting in the north and south of Gaza, contradicting Israel’s claim to have completed the majority of its military objectives in the north last month. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported 350 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to over 17,170 people in the conflict.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks which resulted in 1,200 deaths, according to Israeli figures. Hundreds more were kidnapped during the rampage, many of whom remain unaccounted for. Eitan Levy, a 52-year-old taxi driver who took a passenger to a kibbutz attacked on Oct. 7, was confirmed Friday to have died in Hamas captivity, according to The Times of Israel.
The overwhelming majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been made homeless in the fighting over the last two months, with many locals saying there is nowhere safe to seek shelter as Israel’s operation has expanded.
On Thursday, images were circulated online showing Palestinian men being detained by Israel, with the footage apparently showing the captives stripped to their underwear and being made to kneel. Amid a furore over allegations of inhumane treatment, Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told the BBC on Friday the men had been detained in Jabalia and Shejaiya in northern Gaza which Levy called “Hamas strongholds and centers of gravity.”
He also said the detainees were “military age men” found “in areas that civilians were supposed to have evacuated weeks ago.”
In a statement on its website,