AT least 91 Palestinian people were killed on Saturday in relentless Israeli attacks throughout the Gaza Strip, including at least 45 in Gaza City, as the military intensified its widely criticised ground invasion.
Gaza’s Government Media Office slammed Israel for misleading the Palestinian people with threats to evacuate to the central and southern governorates by portraying them as “safe humanitarian zones”, while continuing to strike those same areas.
According to a statement issued on Saturday, 1,903 people have been killed in 133 attacks on central and southern Gaza since the forced displacement from Gaza City began on August 11, some 46 percent of all reported deaths across the enclave during that period.
The office said that this shows civilians are being directly targeted, despite being told to move south, and called on the international community to intervene, warning that continued global inaction amounts to a “green light” for further massacres.
Reporting from central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that since the early hours of Saturday, Israeli attacks have increased in Gaza City and more casualties have been arriving at al-Shifa Hospital.
“Just in the past few minutes, we had confirmation of a family evacuating on a road inside a vehicle when it was struck by a drone missile. Four people were reported killed on the spot,” he said.
“Hundreds of others have been on the move as Israeli drones and fighter jets chase them from one place to another,” he added.
Some hospitals in Gaza City have shut down as Israeli attacks escalate, with plans to seize the city and displace more people each day.
Earlier on Saturday, people in one of the city’s main hospitals, the Jordan Field Hospital, were forced to evacuate all 107 patients and their entire staff after facing heavy bombardment.
Hospitals in Gaza have long been on the brink of collapse amid relentless Israeli strikes. Most are operating in horrific conditions, unable to provide even basic medical supplies, such as anaesthesia and antibiotics, while the doctors, who are going hungry themselves, struggle to treat starving patients.
The few hospitals still partially functioning in central Gaza have become overwhelmed with wounded and sick people fleeing bombardment in the north. Many arrive in need of urgent medical care that cannot be provided.
“Displacement has worsened the situation inside hospitals in the south,” a displaced Palestinian told Al Jazeera. “Now you can see that instead of one patient in one bed, medical staff tried to fit two patients in one bed.”
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,549 people and wounded 167,518 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed buried under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 attacks and about 200 taken captive.