A picture taken from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip shows smoke rising over buildings in Khan Yunis following Israeli bombardment on February 3, 2024. (Photo by Said Khatib / AFP)
Doha, Qatar: Even as international mediators push for truce deal, Israel continued its deadly strikes in the overcrowded Gaza border town of Rafah on early Saturday. More than 100 people were killed across the territory overnight.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war, with the former city of 200,000 now housing more than half of Gaza's two million-plus population, a WHO representative said Friday.
The United Nations' humanitarian agency OCHA said it was deeply concerned about the escalation of hostilities in nearby Khan Yunis, which have pushed more and more people south in recent days.
"Most are living in makeshift structures, tents or out in the open," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said during a briefing in Geneva.
"Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next."
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[3pm Doha Time] Portugal to provide 1 million euros to UNRWA
Portugal has decided to provide additional support to UNRWA, pledging 1 million euros ($1.08m) to the Palestinian refugee agency, according to a post on X by Foreign Minister Joao Cravinho.
Palestinians walk past a fire-damaged UNRWA in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 2, 2024. (Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)
Cravinho said the decision comes after “a dialogue with” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini.
“The humanitarian situation in #Gaza is desperate, and it is essential that we do not turn our backs on the Palestinian population at this difficult time,” the minister said in his post on X.
The move comes after several Western states suspended funding to UNRWA following an allegation made by Israel that some of the agency’s workers were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks.
[12:35pm Doha Time] Gaza to take until 2092 to restore GDP to 2022 levels, UN estimates
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says the Gaza Strip witnessed an “unprecedented level of destruction” that will take decades and tens of billions of dollars to reverse.
It estimated it would take Gaza until 2092 just to restore the 2022 GDP levels, even with the end of the hostilities and a return to the recent average growth rate of 0.4 percent.
Experts in mapping damage during wartime previously found the war in Gaza to be among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history.
#Gaza: Unprecedented level of destruction will take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse.
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) February 3, 2024
Even with the end of the military operation and the recent average growth rate of 0.4%, it would take Gaza until 2092 just to restore 2022 GDP levels. https://t.co/XgFK4I8eZZ pic.twitter.com/naquvHU8T6
[12:00pm Doha Time] Israel plans ground attack on Rafah, ‘last refuge’ for Gaza’s displaced
The Israeli military plans to expand its ground assault into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where most Palestinians in the besieged enclave have been forced to seek shelter amid heavy bombardment of the rest of the enclave.
This has spread fear among the displaced and concerns from global aid organisations as the last place designated as a “safe zone” by the Israeli army in Gaza comes under threat while Israel continues to hamper the flow of aid.
“The Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas organisation is disbanded, we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a post on the social media platform X late on Thursday. “We will continue until the end, there is no other way.”
[11:36am Doha Time] EU top diplomat urges no Middle East escalation after US strikes
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq.
[11am Doha Time] Kids in Rafah ‘looking for scraps of food’ as aid remains blocked
There is no aid being delivered and prices of basic necessities have tripled. People do not have cash and cannot afford to buy anything. The vast majority of employees are private sector employees and have not had their paycheques since the beginning of the war, reported Al Jazeera.
Palestinians receive food rations at a donation point at a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 2, 2024. (Photo by Said Khatib / AFP)
At times, the food aid that gets in has been stuck at the border crossing with Egypt for so long that it’s gone bad and is inedible. People are living on one meal a day and can go for entire days without eating proper food.
Palestinians receive food rations at a donation point at a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 2, 2024. (Photo by Said Khatib / AFP)
It further added that children can be seen roaming around in Rafah looking for scraps of food. Newborn babies are dying of malnutrition and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding do not have the necessary nutrients to continue feeding their children, or bring to term their gestation period.
[10:30am Doha Time] Iraq denounces US air strikes; warns of ‘serious implications’
The damage from the US air raids on Iraq is still being determined, but its military issued a statement condemning the attacks.
“These air strikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences. The outcomes will have severe implications on the security and stability in Iraq and the surrounding region,” said Yahya Rasool, the Iraqi military spokesperson.
[10am Doha Time] Video captures the extent of destruction in northern Gaza
Palestinian photographer Moamen Abu Odeh documented the amount of damage in al-Sudaniya, northern Gaza, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Footage posted on Instagram shows residential areas reduced to rubble in the aftermath of Israel’s ground invasion and relentless bombing campaign.
More than one million Palestinians have been displaced from northern Gaza since October 13, when the Israeli military ordered residents in the area to evacuate.
