Marking one of the largest mass displacements of the war, hundreds of Palestinians began fleeing Gaza on Thursday, 3 April, as Israeli forces pushed into Rafah, a city on Gaza’s southern edge.
On the same day, an airstrike hit a school in northern Gaza, killing dozens of civilians who had sought shelter there. This attack came as Israel intensified its offensive on the enclave, resulting in the deaths of at least 100 Palestinians.
Israel stated that its campaign aims to increase pressure on Hamas and ultimately expel the group from Gaza.
Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi reported that 14 children and five women were among the bodies recovered from the school in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood, with the death toll likely to rise, as many of the 70 wounded sustained critical injuries.
On 1 April, Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza in anticipation of ground operations. Many Gazans, who had returned to their homes during the temporary ceasefire, are now being forced to flee again from both the northern and southern edges of the strip.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reported that intense Israeli shelling and ground operations have caused extensive damage and displaced over 100,000 Palestinians from Rafah in just the last two days, with many of them being displaced multiple times.
Following the expiration of the first phase of the ceasefire at the beginning of March, with no agreement to extend it, Israel imposed a total blockade on all goods entering Gaza. This has led to what international organizations describe as a humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
UNICEF (the United Nations agency for children) reported that since Israel launched a renewed offensive in Gaza two weeks ago, at least 322 children have been killed. At least 609 other children have been wounded during the same period.
There are growing concerns that Israel’s objective is to permanently depopulate these areas while it gains control over some of Gaza’s last remaining agricultural land and critical water infrastructure.
Since the war on Gaza in October 2023, over 50,000 Palestinians have reportedly lost their lives, worsening a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the majority of the 2.3 million residents have been displaced.
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