The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is carrying out a massive military campaign across the Gaza Strip that is leading to a humanitarian crisis, the United Nations said.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said as he described a “spiraling humanitarian nightmare.”
Guterres invoked a rare privilege to speak before the U.N. Security Council and press for an immediate ceasefire. But, the move failed after the U.S. blocked it.
Washington argues Israel faces a security threat from Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed 1,200 Israelis in the Oct. 7 surprise attack.
Still, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel must protect more civilian lives and communicate with them better on how to remain safe.
“There does remain a gap between exactly what I said when I was there, the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground,” he said.
Israel’s military expanded operations this week into the south, where nearly 2 million civilians have fled the strikes.
IDF troops are now fighting in close combat with Hamas in Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city.
Civilians fled to the south when Israel first moved into the region in late October, and now they are being led to evacuate into smaller and smaller zones.
Humanitarian groups also warn the coastal strip’s health system is collapsing, while many Palestinians are starving.
Mohammed Salha, a monitoring manager at Gaza’s Al-Awda Hospital, said 250 people are locked in the building under siege.
“We are only eating one meal a day,” Salha said in a recording sent to The Hill by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker relief organization operating in Gaza.
“I hope … we can have any kind of support,” he said, “to stop this siege.”
Read the full war coverage at TheHill.com.
