They have all squeezed into an area that is less than one-third of Gaza’s territory, according to the United Nations, and many have recounted deadly strikes in areas they were told would be safe.
The United Nations has opposed the establishment of so-called safe zones in the enclave, on the grounds that no one party to a war can unilaterally declare places completely safe for civilians. Trying to establish such zones in Gaza, U.N. officials said last month, could “create unacceptable harm for civilians, including large-scale loss of life.”
U.N. officials have said that civilians should take shelter in buildings such as schools and hospitals, which are protected under international law, and that Israel should not strike such places. Israel has accused Hamas of concealing command centers in schools, hospitals, and other civilian structures.
Over the past few days, the Israeli military said, its forces have been fighting in close-quarters combat, killing “dozens” of armed Hamas operatives. They have found and destroyed weapons and underground infrastructure, “predominantly located inside and in the vicinity of civilian buildings,” the military said, as well as rocket launchers and tunnel shafts, including one inside a school in Shejaiya, in northern Gaza.
It was not possible to independently verify Israel’s account.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had apprehended hundreds of people suspected of terrorism, including wanted Hamas operatives, across the Gaza Strip in a single day, and that many had surrendered and had been transferred to Israel for further questioning.
“We question and investigate who among them is connected to Hamas and who is not,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said in a televised briefing.
The Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli officials. In retaliation, Israel launched intense bombardment in Gaza, killing more than 15,000 people in the territory, according to health officials there.
Nearly 100 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the Hamas attacks, officials say. On Thursday, Israeli leaders offered condolences to Gadi Eisenkot, who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet and whose son, Master Sgt. Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, was killed in combat in Jabaliya, the military said.
Amid a growing outcry over the dire conditions for civilians in the enclave, the Israeli government said it would allow “a minimal supplement of fuel” into southern Gaza in order “to prevent a humanitarian collapse and the outbreak of epidemics.” It did not specify how much fuel, or when the supplies would be allowed in.
