Gaza: The United Nations has announced that the number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza due to Israeli attacks since mid-March has surpassed 796,000.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Daniela Gross, informed reporters that nearly 17,000 new displacements were recorded between August 12 and 20. The escalation of Israeli assaults has sharply increased forced displacement in the region.
The total number of registered displaced individuals since the ceasefire collapse in mid-March has now exceeded 796,000. The UN reports that 95% of this displacement is occurring in Gaza City. Residents are moving from the east to the south and west seeking safety from ongoing Israeli attacks.
Since August 11, Israeli forces have initiated a large-scale assault on the Zaytoun neighborhood in southeastern Gaza City. This operation includes the demolition of homes using booby-trapped robots, artillery shelling, indiscriminate gunfire, and mass forced displacement as part of a strategy to reoccupy the remaining areas of the Gaza Strip.
On August 8, the Israeli government approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City.
Earlier, on July 20, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 88% of Gaza's territory, approximately 360 square kilometers housing about 2.3 million Palestinians, was under Israeli evacuation orders, leading to large-scale forced displacement.
Since October 2023, Israel has been conducting operations in Gaza, including killings, destruction, and forced displacement, contrary to international appeals and binding orders from the International Court of Justice to cease such actions.
