ISTANBUL

Around 500,000 Palestinians remain trapped in Gaza City within an area of just 8 square kilometers, amid intensified Israeli attacks aimed at occupying the city and displacing its residents, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Monday.

“In Gaza City, around half a million Palestinians remain trapped in an area of less than eight square kilometers,” UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said in remarks republished by the agency on the US social media company X.

“Around 70,000 people will be crammed into each square kilometer. There’s no space for a single tent. Tens of thousands of families are left without shelter on the streets.”

Gaza City covers 74.6 square kilometers. Israel currently controls most of it and is gradually expanding its grip under a plan announced by the government in August to occupy the entire city.

The UNRWA spokesman warned that famine has followed displaced families from Gaza City to central and southern areas. He stressed the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Since March 2, Israel has fully closed Gaza’s crossings, blocking food and aid convoys and deepening famine conditions in the enclave. Only limited supplies are sporadically allowed in, and many are looted by armed groups that Gaza authorities accuse Israel of protecting.

The Israeli army has killed over 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.