Palestinian media reported on Wednesday that a Palestinian man, his wife, and their two daughters were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent housing displaced people in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.
Three Palestinians were also injured when an Israeli drone bombed a house in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army launched an intensive artillery and airstrike attack on several areas in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening, just minutes after warning Palestinians to evacuate the areas, in preparation for a possible bombardment, on the grounds that they were being used to launch rockets.
Medical sources reported that there were martyrs and wounded after Israeli warplanes targeted a house near Al-Furqan Mosque in the Al-Faluja area, west of Jabalia camp.
Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli occupation forces launched artillery attacks on areas east of Jabalia and Sheikh Zayed in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.
Minutes before the attack began, the Israeli occupation army warned Palestinians in the town of Jabalia, the Jabalia camp, and the neighborhoods of Tel al-Zaatar, Sheikh Zayed, al-Nour, al-Salam, and al-Rawda to leave their homes immediately, describing the measure as a "final advance warning before the attack."
In a statement on his X account, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee called on Palestinians to "move immediately to known shelters in Gaza City."
Gaza lacks effective shelters that provide protection or even minimal humanitarian needs, amid widespread destruction of the Strip's infrastructure.
He continued: "The Israeli army will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched."
Earlier Tuesday evening, the Israeli military announced in a statement that it had intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza, and that another had fallen in an open area without causing any casualties.
The rocket fire triggered air raid sirens in Ashkelon and the settlements of Be'er Ganim, Nir Yisrael, Sderot, Nir Am, Mefalsim, and Efim, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, according to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement claimed responsibility for firing the rockets.
"We bombed Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot, and the Gaza Strip settlements with barrages of rockets in response to the Zionist massacres against our Palestinian people," the movement's military wing, Saraya al-Quds, said in a statement.
famine worsens
In a related development, the Palestinian Minister of Social Development and representatives of international organizations warned on Tuesday of a worsening famine in the Gaza Strip due to the continued Israeli blockade and closure of crossings, stressing that the Strip is facing a "humanitarian catastrophe."
This came during a coordination meeting held by Minister of Social Development Samah Hamad with representatives from the World Bank, Oxfam, and the World Food Programme to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urgent interventions, according to a statement issued by the Palestinian Cabinet.
Hamad, who heads the government's operations room for emergency interventions in the southern governorates, said, "The Gaza Strip is suffering from a real famine that threatens the lives of civilians, especially children, women, and the elderly." She noted that "more than 60,000 children are in need of treatment for malnutrition, in addition to pregnant women."
She added, "Most bakeries have stopped operating, and markets, water stations, and hospitals are out of service, further exacerbating the crisis."
The UN organizations called for "pressure on Israel to halt the aggression and open the crossings, to save approximately 2 million people living in inhumane conditions (...) and to allow the entry of trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies, food, and medicine."
Since March 2, Israel has closed the Gaza Strip's crossings to the entry of food, relief, medical aid, and goods, causing a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation of Palestinians, according to government, human rights, and international reports.
For her part, Oxfam Director Mariam van Dross pointed to "the difficulty of the situation in Gaza after the siege and destruction (...) and the need to strengthen international advocacy for the famine issue in Gaza, and to ensure the entry of essential food aid."
Last January, the Palestinian government decided to establish an emergency government operations room for the southern governorates. The room will be staffed by senior government officials from relevant ministries and institutions, and will remain in permanent session.
The chamber's formation aims to enhance coordination and integration of government efforts on the ground to address shelter and emergency response plans in the Gaza Strip. The chamber is under the supervision of Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa and is chaired by Minister of Social Development Samah Hamad.
On Monday, an international report warned that all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face the risk of mass starvation, with nearly half a million people expected to face "catastrophic hunger," the fifth and most severe stage of food insecurity.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, prepared jointly by 17 UN humanitarian agencies and international NGOs, cited the escalation of Israeli genocide, the continued closure of crossings, and the prevention of food and medicine from entering the Strip.
The 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza are entirely dependent on aid after Israel's ongoing genocide, which has left them impoverished for 19 months, according to World Bank data.
This humanitarian crisis comes as more than 90% of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been displaced from their homes. Some have experienced this situation more than once, living in overcrowded shelters or out in the open, increasing the spread of diseases and epidemics.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has continued its widespread genocidal campaign against the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, including killing, destruction, starvation, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
This US-backed war left more than 172,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.
