Humanitarian crisis unfolds in Gaza as 180,000 displaced and more than 140 children dead
ITV News' James Mates and Chloe Keedy report on the humanitarian crisis facing people living in Gaza as fighting enters its fourth day
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Gaza where food and electricity has been cut off, after the Israeli prime minister formally declared war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Palestinian militants launched an incursion out of Gaza on Israel on Saturday, escalating a long-running conflict and capturing more than 150 hostages on the Israeli side. You can learn more about why Hamas struck now on ITV's Podcast: What You Need to Know.
Israel has returned with rocket fire, carrying out hundreds of aerial strikes in Gaza, where more than 187,500 people have now been displaced, according to a United Nations report.
The entry of food and fuel has been blocked, electricity has been cut, and more than 140 children are believed to be among the increasing death toll according to Save The Children.
The Secretary-General of the UN has insisted that humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those left "trapped and helpless" in Gaza.
In a statement shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Antonio Guterres said: "I appeal to the international community to mobilize immediate humanitarian support for this effort."
In 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described conditions in the Gaza Strip as "hell on earth."
The Palestinian territory, a 41-kilometre-long stretch of land on the coast, shares a border with Egypt and Israel.
Around 80% of its population depend on international aid - giving the current conflict the potential to have catastrophic long-term impacts on the citizens of Gaza.
What is happening in Gaza now?
In response to the Hamas attack, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a "complete siege" on Gaza on Monday, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel to the 2 million plus Palestinians in Gaza, referring to them as "human animals".
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on earth
On Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said it had "restored full control" of the border with the Gaza Strip.
They have conducted overnight air strikes targeting Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood, home to many of Hamas' ministries and government buildings.
The UN has said more than 187,000 of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have left their homes - the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted nearly half a million people.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have destroyed at least 790 housing units and severely damaged 5,330, the UN also said, while damage to three water and sanitation sites have cut off services to 400,000 people.
The death toll from the five-day conflict has surpassed 2,200 on both sides, with at least 1,055 Palestinians and at least 1,200 Israelis killed since Saturday.
Palestine's health ministry said on Monday the toll includes a massacre of eight families, totalling 54 members.
Watch as air strikes are carried out while Dr Abdel Hammad, a surgeon at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, speaks to ITV News
Its main hospital is overflowing and has been called a "slaughterhouse" by a doctor working for with the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Another doctor, based in Liverpool but currently working in Gaza, told ITV News he had been "shaking all day" as strikes were carried out just yards from where he is sheltering.
"I think probably it is the most serious situation it has been in Gaza for a long long time," Dr Abdel Hammad said.
A representative from Doctors Without Borders has said: "If there is no fuel anymore, there is no medical facilities anymore because we cannot run our medical facility without the energy."
Other hospitals, as well as schools, are being targeted as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war.
He asked civilians to leave but they are blockaded on all sides, other than the Mediterranean Sea, by Israel and Egypt.
Can civilians escape?
It appears as though many are stuck in Gaza.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed they advised Palestinians to try to leave through the Rafah crossing - the sole border crossing between Egypt and Gaza - but it then changed the advice and announced the crossing had been closed.
US army spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht also suggested the same, though it is unclear what the safest route of escape now is - if there is one.
On Tuesday, Jason Lee of Save The Children called for the implementation of a humanitarian corridor. Speaking at a press conference, he said: "There must be cessation or a stop to fighting so we can get to the families, schools and people to deliver aid."Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth and if they're running for their lives, they must be allowed to do so, to seek shelter without having bombs falling on them".
Jason Lee of Save the Children issued an urgent plea to both sides to protect civilians, warning there is 'very little space for them to go' in Gaza to take cover during active fighting.
'Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth.'
"If there is active fighting, remember Gaza is a very small place - it's 365sq km - and there's 2.4 million people here is very little space for them to go," he added.
"It is one of the most densely populated places on earth."
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson for Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday their government was in touch with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, to discuss coordinating efforts aimed at ensuring humanitarian aid is provided to the Gaza Strip.
The UNRWA is currently sheltering more than 137,000 people in schools across the territory, while families have taken in some 41,000 others.
More than two tonnes of medical supplies from the Egyptian Red Crescent have been sent to Gaza and efforts are underway to organise food and other deliveries, according to an Egyptian military official who spoke to the Associated Press anonymously.
The UN and other aid agencies have been talking with Egypt to send humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza through a crossing point between the strip and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said medical supplies it has in seven hospitals in Gaza had already been used up and it was reprogramming funds to purchase more from local markets.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said they have immediately offered help to both sides of the conflict, saying: "The recent violence in Israel and Gaza is at a level we have not seen in many years and has the potential to escalate dramatically."
They have dispatched teams to help identify missing people and sent medical supplies to a hospital in Gaza.
It comes as Mr Netanyahu said his military offensive has "only started" in a television address on Monday.
A history of conflict
Home to more than two million people, both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, further north, are known as Palestinian territory.
The two areas, along with the rest of Israel, are what Palestinians have defined as Palestine for 2,000 years.
But the Jewish claim also spans back that far, when they were exiled from what they would define as their ancestral homeland.
In 1948, in the wake of the Holocaust, the state of Israel was declared - which received widespread Western support.
But Hamas and other Palestinian groups believed the territory to be stolen from Palestinians, leading to several wars over the following decades.
Israel eventually occupied Gaza and the West Bank - illegally, according to the United Nations.
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