Israeli military actions in north Gaza, combined with an unrelenting blockade, are causing untold civilian suffering. Dozens of Palestinians have died trapped under rubble, while Israel prevents rescue missions and humanitarian aid from entering the region. Reports from human rights organizations, including Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, detail field executions, forced evacuations, and starvation, painting a grim picture of life in the besieged area.
Israeli forces have reportedly executed civilians in front of their families, according to Euro-Med Monitor. In one harrowing case, Khaled Mustafa Ismail Al-Shafai, 58, and his 21-year-old son Ibrahim were shot dead in their Beit Lahia home as 12 Israeli soldiers broke in and opened fire. Khaled’s wife, Hiyafa, and their young children witnessed the killings, leaving the family with severe psychological trauma. Hiyafa, unable to speak to anyone since the event, repeatedly told her sister, “They executed them in front of me.”
These killings are part of what Euro-Med Monitor describes as a campaign to terrorize civilians into evacuating their homes. The group warns that this forced displacement constitutes “one of the largest cases of forced displacement in modern history.”
Israeli airstrikes have leveled buildings across north Gaza, leaving scores of civilians buried alive. In Beit Lahia alone, rescuers recovered 34 bodies from a collapsed residential building after a pre-dawn strike. However, rescue efforts remain severely hampered by Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid and restrictions on specialized equipment.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesperson for the civil defense agency, described the desperate conditions rescuers face: “First responders and civilians are using rudimentary tools to look for survivors under the building’s rubble. We hope to find survivors, but hope is fading as time goes on.” Despite pleas for assistance, Israel has blocked critical tools and supplies needed for effective search and rescue missions.
Deaths caused by being trapped under rubble are likely going uncounted, as Gaza’s health system is overwhelmed and unable to track unreported fatalities. The UN and human rights groups have repeatedly called for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to reach the region, but the pleas have gone unanswered.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in makeshift conditions without food or basic supplies. According to one witness identified as A.J. by Euro-Med Monitor, approximately 5,000 people are packed into three schools in Beit Lahia, struggling to survive without aid. A.J. explained the deadly risks of trying to secure food: “Displaced people risk venturing out to their homes to retrieve any remaining supplies. Dozens who attempted to do so have not returned, as they were executed in the streets.”
The blockade has left thousands, including 70,000 residents of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, without clean water or access to essential resources. Children, women, and men fleeing airstrikes have been seen walking among piles of rubble and waste, some covered in dust and carrying only the belongings they could manage to save.
The international community has voiced outrage over the dire conditions in Gaza. Josep Borrell, the European Union’s outgoing foreign policy chief, stated, “It’s about 44,000 people killed in Gaza, the whole area is being destroyed, and 70 percent of the people being killed are women or children.”
Jordan and Qatar have issued a joint statement calling for immediate action to “end the unprecedented humanitarian disaster in northern Gaza,” blaming “Israel’s failure to allow aid to enter.” However, calls for intervention have so far failed to bring relief to those trapped in the besieged region.
Since the beginning of Israel’s military operations in north Gaza on October 6, displacement has become widespread. Families have been seen fleeing on foot, bicycle, or donkey cart, carrying whatever belongings they could manage. The health ministry in Gaza, run by Hamas, estimates that 44,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, with the majority being civilians.
The blockade and bombardment have devastated the area’s infrastructure, leaving residents without access to basic needs. As Abdullah Hammouda, a resident of Beit Lahia, pointed out, “Had it happened in another country, the whole world would be outraged.”
Israel’s blockade and military actions in north Gaza have created conditions where civilians are not only being killed by airstrikes but are also starving and dying under rubble due to blocked aid and rescue efforts.
As Mahmud Bassal from the civil defense agency explained, the situation leaves little hope for those trapped: “We hope to find survivors, but hope is fading as time goes on.”
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