Israeli forces launch ground assault on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for first time
Shelling taking place around our office, says British charity in Deir al-Balahpublished at 10:38 British Summer Time
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a British charity, says the intensity of challenges in Gaza are “beyond description”.
The charity’s communications officer says the situation in Deir al-Balah is “extremely critical” and shelling is taking place all around their office.
Military vehicles, Mai Elawawda says, “are just 400 metres away from our colleagues and their families, who endured a harrowing night after relocating there”.
Everyone is evacuating, Elawawda explains, adding that most people are unsure where they should go next.
“One colleague shared that the area is filled with shelling and quadcopter strikes, and there’s growing fear about both staying and attempting to leave,” she says.
Photos show Israeli strike on Gaza Citypublished at 10:13 British Summer Time
While we’ve been reporting Israel’s ground assault in Deir al-Balah, the IDF is also continuing to strike other areas of Gaza.
These images show the moment a missile was dropped on a building this morning in Gaza City, the major city in the north of the Strip.
Image source, BBC/Reuters
Image source, Reuters
‘My children cry from hunger all night’published at 10:09 British Summer Time
Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul
Local residents are describing what they say is the worst famine in Gaza’s history, with most markets closed due to the acute shortage of food.
“My children cry from hunger all night,” Mohammad Emad al-Din, a father of two who works as a barber in Gaza, tells the BBC.
“They’ve had only a small plate of lentils over the past three days. There’s no bread. A kilo of flour was $80 (£59) a week ago. I had to stop working after my salon’s solar panels were damaged in an airstrike.”
Residents blame the worsening situation on Israeli restrictions, saying not enough food supplies are being allowed into the territory, deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef show alarming levels of child malnutrition.
In May alone, over 5,000 children under the age of five were treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 600 with severe acute malnutrition a life-threatening condition.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned last week that Gaza is facing famine-like conditions across the entire territory, citing critical access restrictions, food shortages, and market collapse.
Image source, Reuters
Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen in Nuseirat, central Gaza, on Sunday
Nineteen Palestinians die of hunger in Gaza in 24 hours, health official sayspublished at 09:34 British Summer Time
Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul
At least 19 Palestinians have died from hunger in the past 24 hours in Gaza, according to an official from the Hamas-run health ministry
Dr Khalil al-Daqran, spokesperson for al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, tells the BBC that the situation in Gaza’s hospitals has become critical.
“Nineteen people, including children, have died of hunger,” he says.
“Hospitals can no longer provide food for patients or staff, many of whom are physically unable to continue working due to extreme hunger.”
He adds that even basic items like infant formula are no longer available.
“Hospitals cannot provide a single bottle of milk to children suffering from hunger, because all baby formula has run out from the market.”
Israeli air strikes in Deir al-Balah intensified last night, says UN bosspublished at 09:17 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty Images
Smoke rises in Deir al-Balah during the Israeli assault on Monday morning
The UN’s under-secretary-general for its humanitarian office, Ocha, says the head of the branch’s Palestinian Territories arm is in Deir al-Balah and intends to stay there.
“Just spoken to Jonathan Whittall,” Tom Fletcher wrote on X late on Sunday night, external. “He’s in Deir el Balah, Gaza, with Israeli air strikes intensifying.”
He said Whittall was “surrounded by our team, and civilians we stay to help,” while praising the “exceptional courage and integrity” of the Ocha team. “They are best of UN. And all of us.”
Palestinians fled after Israeli warning on Sundaypublished at 08:47 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty Images
As we’ve reported, the Israeli military yesterday issued evacuation orders for Deir al-Balah, where it has not launched a ground offensive during its 21 months of war against Hamas.
The IDF said people should evacuate immediately and move towards al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast.
The military’s Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said Israel was “expanding its activities” in Deir al-Balah, including “in an area where it has not operated before”.
Pictures showed hundreds of people fleeing with their belongings.
Image source, Getty Images
UN warned against Israeli operation in Deir al-Balahpublished at 08:31 British Summer Time
The UN’s humanitarian office, Ocha, said the displacement order issued by the Israeli military on Sunday – before today’s assault began – was “yet another devastating blow” to humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
It said there were dozens of important resources such as humanitarian warehouses, medical clinics and critical water infrastructure in Deir al-Balah.
“Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences,” it warned.
The new order “cuts through Deir al-Balah… further splintering the Strip,” Ocha said, adding that it will limit the ability of its humanitarian teams to move safely and effectively in Gaza.
The evacuation order caused panic for Gazans, and alarm for Israeli hostage familiespublished at 08:12 British Summer Time
Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem
The Israeli military’s evacuation order on Sunday caused widespread panic among tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The affected neighbourhoods of Deir al-Balah are crowded with displaced people living in tents.
The order also alarmed the families of Israeli hostages – with a number of those still held captive by Hamas assumed to be in the area.
They fear that an Israeli attack could endanger their loved ones.
Israeli forces launch ground and air assault on Deir al-Balahpublished at 08:07 British Summer Time
Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul
Israeli forces have launched a ground and air assault on the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, prompting fresh waves of displacement among civilians already uprooted by the ongoing conflict.
The operation began early on Monday, just hours after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings to residents of six residential blocks in the south-western part of the city.
The area is currently packed with thousands of displaced people from Rafah and Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Local journalists told the BBC that Israeli tanks and military vehicles pushed into the city from the Kisufim checkpoint under heavy artillery and air cover.
Dozens of shells reportedly struck the Abu al-‘Ajin and Hikr al-Jami’ neighbourhoods, as ground forces moved in.
Footage shared on social media showed flashes of explosions and the sound of sustained gunfire as Israeli troops advanced.
Thousands of residents fled the city overnight towards the coastal area of al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis, which has become one of the few remaining zones of relative refuge in southern Gaza.
There are growing fears among local residents that the latest military push could be part of an effort to carve out a new corridor that would isolate Deir al-Balah from the surrounding central Gaza region.
If confirmed, this would be the third such axis, following the establishment of Israeli military routes through the Netzarim corridor in southern Gaza City and the Morag axis in Rafah.
The BBC has asked the Israeli military for comment.
