900,000 Palestinians still in Gaza City, northern Strip: Interior Ministry

By Mohamed Majid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Approximately 900,000 Palestinians are still in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, which consists of five governorates, the Gaza-based Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Iyad al-Buzm said during a news conference in Gaza that residents are still living in Gaza despite the Israeli military's efforts to force them to flee south through continuous aerial and artillery bombardments.

“The displacement that took place in the two regions is an internal displacement to shelter centers or to relatives and friends,” said Al-Buzm.

The population of Gaza City and surrounding areas exceeds 1.1 million out of a total of 2.2 million Palestinians, all of whom are facing extremely dire living conditions due to the ongoing Israeli blockade since 2006.

“Despite the occupation's massacres concentrated in Gaza City and northern Gaza and its psychological warfare to force citizens to leave their homes, the occupation has been unable to achieve its goals to displace people,” said Al-Buzm.

“The number of shelter centers in the Gaza Strip cities has reached 225, with 97 of them in Gaza City and North Gaza, housing 311,000 displaced,” he said.

Al-Buzm also said: “The shelter centers in Gaza City and North Gaza are located in 87 schools, nine hospitals and one church where people sought refuge to avoid bombing but were also targeted.”

Regarding challenging living conditions, Al-Buzm said all bakeries are out of service due to direct Israeli targeting and the unavailability of fuel and flour, posing a serious “potential catastrophe.”

"People resort to drinking contaminated water due to the Israeli blockade cutting off the water supply to Gaza City and North Gaza," he said. "No aid has reached the citizens in Gaza City and North Gaza for the past 32 days, and no supplies have been delivered to shelter centers or residential areas.”

He pointed out that “the so-called safe passage the occupation spoke of is a lie and has turned into a death corridor following the crimes committed by the occupation there.”

He added: "We warn that the occupation will carry out massacres and psychological pressure to force the people of Gaza City and North Gaza to leave their homes. Where will they go?”

Al-Buzm said: “There is no safe place in the Strip, and the south cannot house all these numbers under the siege.''

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7.

At least 10,328 Palestinians, including 4,237 children and 2,719 women, have been killed in the Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli death toll is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Anakara