'They want to kill us slowly': Israel's catastrophic siege of north Gaza escalates

A week after the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death, hopes of a ceasefire remain remote

Families fleeing Israeli army operations in Jabalia, northern Gaza, take the main Salah Al Din road towards Gaza city. AFP

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One week on from the Israeli assassination of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, suffering in Gaza continues to worsen, with a deadly Israeli siege on the north tightening.

More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the past 20 days of siege, according to estimates from the enclave's health ministry, which has described “catastrophic” suffering in the north and entire neighbourhoods wiped off the map.

Shortly after Mr Sinwar's killing, Israeli officials hinted his death would renew hopes for ceasefire talks and the end of a war that has now killed more than 42,800 Palestinians across Gaza and wounded at least 100,544 others.

Israel, however, has continued attacks across the enclave, intensifying the siege on the north, where little food, water or medical aid has entered since October 6.

The north “has been subject to most heinous massacres”, the official Wafa news agency said on Thursday, describing constant air strikes, shelling and gunfire on hospitals and “residential areas that no longer exist”.

Israeli strikes and raids have focused on Jabalia refugee camp, the largest in Gaza, where soldiers have attacked hospitals.

“Injured people are becoming martyrs almost every hour due to a lack of supplies, medical staff and equipment,” Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said in a video message on Thursday.

Hospital staff have been killed, wounded and arrested by Israeli forces in recent weeks, he said. He warned that the hospital will turn into a “mass grave” if the siege does not end.

“We have no blood bags to give to the wounded, no medical supplies or medicines that we urgently need,” the director added.

Dozens of bodies lie in the streets of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, Wafa added, with the Israeli army shooting at medical crews and anyone attempting to enter or leave hospitals.

“There is a clear escalation in the Israeli military tactics in the current northern Gaza operations,” civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told The National. “The Israeli army is actively preventing rescue teams from operating in northern Gaza and directly targeting them. As a result, there are currently no rescue services available in the northern region. While civil defence workers are present, Israeli forces are not allowing them to provide any assistance.”

A mother and her child were among the latest victims of Israeli strikes on Jabalia on Thursday, Wafa added, with several others wounded in Israeli shelling on the camp. Gazans told The National they feel they have been left to stand alone.

“The situation is unbearable – no food, no clean water. They want to kill us slowly, and they seem satisfied with our suffering,” said Fatma Mohammed, 75, from Gaza city.

“We thought that after Sinwar's death, Netanyahu would end his war, having achieved his objectives. But now it’s clear he’s aiming to wipe out the Palestinian people, and no one is stepping in to save us or give the poor any glimpse of hope.

“What’s happening in Jabalia is beyond words. It’s as if they're telling us that no one will come to our aid, and our fate is solely in their hands.”

Famine and polio threat worsening

Famine is worsening in the north, according to Unicef, where the Israeli siege has also suspended UN efforts to administer the second dose of polio vaccines to more than 119,000 children.

The UN and Palestinian partners postponed the third and final phase of inoculations in Gaza's north on Wednesday “due to escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses”, Unicef said.

While the risk of polio rises, parents in Jabalia said their main worry is feeding their children and surviving Israeli attacks.

“It doesn’t matter to us anymore if our children get vaccinated or not, whether it’s postponed or on time,” said Sanaa Hamouda, a 62-year-old displaced Palestinian sheltering in Jabalia refugee camp.

“If the children don’t die from disease, they’ll die from the ongoing massacre that the world is witnessing. The children are going to perish from lack of food and water.”

Elsewhere in Gaza, 17 people were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday morning.

The latest attacks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued a regional tour – his 11th since last October – aimed at ending the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Talks between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, have borne no fruit since a temporary truce last November.

It remains unclear who will succeed Mr Sinwar as the political head of Hamas. Sinwar had replaced Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in an Israeli air strike on Tehran in July.