Israel continues to wipe entire neighborhoods of Gaza City off the map.
More than 1,500 homes have been destroyed since the start of the offensive to occupy the enclave.
BarcelonaIsrael has demolished more than 1,500 homes in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City since it began at the beginning of the month the offensive ground to conquer the enclave, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense. The destruction, documented by satellite images analyzed by the Sanad fact-checking agency for the Qatari network Al Jazeera, is also concentrated in residential areas such as Jabalia al-Balad, the Jabalia refugee camp, and Tel Az Zaatar, where entire neighborhoods have been virtually wiped off the map. According to the analysis, Israeli forces penetrated up to four kilometers from the eastern border and advanced toward Jabalia al-Balad and Jabalia al-Nazla.
The devastation has led to a mass exodus and a worsening humanitarian crisis. The mayor of Deir el-Balah, Nizar Ayyash, has warned that the city no longer has "a single space" to erect more tents. The coast is saturated, the east of the city is under Israeli attack, and the water desalination plant is practically inoperative. Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry has reported that in just 24 hours, four people—including two children—have died from hunger and malnutrition. The total number of victims due to lack of food has now reached 317, including 121 children.
Furthermore, according to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera, at least 17 people were killed this Thursday in various locations in the Strip. In total, in the last 24 hours, up to Thursday noon, 71 Palestinians, including 22 who were searching for food in distribution centers, were killed and another 339 were injured, according to the Health Ministry, at the hands of Hamas.
More than one million displaced
The Gaza government's Media Office has accused Israel of "promoting lies and false accusations" to justify the forced displacement of the population. In a statement, it denied the idea that the southern part of the Strip has "large empty spaces" for relocating displaced people: "The center and south are completely filled, with more than one and a quarter million displaced people living in makeshift tents, without basic living conditions." The statement concludes that Israel's displacement policy constitutes a "war crime and a crime against humanity under international law."
In the occupied West Bank, repression has also intensified. Israeli forces have arrested at least 12 people in raids and house raids in the past 48 hours, including journalists, reform activists, and former prisoners. Meanwhile, on Thursday, dozens of settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, under police protection, where they performed Talmudic rituals and provocative marches against Muslim tradition, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A completely useless meeting
In this context, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair participated this Wednesday in the as bloated as useless meeting at the White House with US President Donald Trump to discuss plans for Gaza for the "next day." US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff had stated in an interview with Fox that Washington was preparing a "very comprehensive" plan in this regard, although no details have been revealed. Trump's son-in-law, real estate developer Jared Kushner, also participated in the meeting.
Blair, who after leaving Downing Street in 2007 served as special envoy focusing on Palestinian economic development, had advocated a two-state solution. However, the current Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, is very clear: "There will be no Palestinian state." Trump and his envoy Witkoff have once again demonstrated their complicity with Israel and their simplicity when it comes to truly addressing a comprehensive solution that would end the Palestinians. in the genocide of Benjamin Netanyahu or any other Israeli ruler in Gaza.
In fact, the fact that three real estate developers were present at the supposedly "important" White House meeting – in addition to Trump, Witkoff and Kushner – suggests that they are still considering the idea of making Gaza a kind of tourist resort of the eastern Mediterranean. That's why it's essential to eliminate the Palestinians from the Strip and to count on the support of regional powers. They're gradually achieving the first part of the operation, freeing up the Israeli prime minister's hands. However, the second is much more difficult to achieve, if only because of the reaction of the populations of Egypt, Jordan, and even Saudi Arabia.
The UN and several NGOs have warned that the all-out offensive taking place on Gaza City will have a "horrific humanitarian impact," especially after last week's famine was officially declaredAll members of the UN Security Council—except the United States—described this situation as a "man-made crisis" and expressed "deep alarm" at the latest report from the IPC food security system. The text demands that Israel immediately and unconditionally lift restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and recalls that hunger "as a weapon of war" It is expressly prohibited by international law.
After nearly two years of war, the situation in the Gaza Strip is one of material destruction and political fracture, and there is no sign of restraint or political will on the part of the international community—with the Ukrainian front also open—to rein in Netanyahu.