The UN warns ‘nowhere is safe’ in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes turn whole neighbourhoods to rubble and 600,000 people are forced into emergency shelters

Entire neighborhoods in Gaza have been wiped out by airstrikes, satellite images revealed yesterday as the UN warned: ‘Nowhere is safe.’

The Israeli aerial bombardment of the enclave has left entire districts in ruins, forcing an estimated 600,000 people into emergency shelters.

Satellite images revealed the extent of the destruction, showing piles of rubble where homes, shops and businesses once stood.

Israel stressed that its attacks are targeting Hamas leaders and infrastructure, and that it has warned civilians to evacuate northern Gaza and move south.

But airstrikes have also hit the south of the Palestinian territory, where more than a million people have tried to find safety.

The head of the UN Palestinian relief agency said Gaza now resembles a “hell on earth”, with evacuated families facing unbearable dangers and hospitals unable to treat the wounded and dying.

A Palestinian child is helped as people search for victims at the scene of an Israeli attack on a residential building in Gaza City, October 25

UN representative Philippe Lazzarini said Gaza’s civilian population is not responsible for the deadly Hamas attacks that sparked the war and should not be punished for the gunmen’s brutality.

In The Guardian he wrote: ‘Entire neighborhoods are being razed over the heads of civilians in one of the most overcrowded places on earth… There is nowhere safe in Gaza.

“The reality today in Gaza is that there is not much humanity left and hell is settling in.

“History will wonder why the world did not have the courage to act decisively and stop this hell on earth.” About 7,028 Palestinians were killed in the airstrikes, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas.

The US questioned the accuracy of the death toll, prompting Gaza authorities to release a 212-page dossier containing names and identity numbers. Thousands more have been injured and hospitals report having no electricity for life support machines or operating rooms.

Doctors have operated without anesthesia and resorted to using vinegar to clean wounds after supplies of antiseptics ran out. Nearly 3,000 children are believed to be among the dead, and families have begun tying cotton bracelets to children’s wrists so their bodies can be identified.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said during an emergency session in New York: ‘What choice do you make as a parent when there are only impossible choices? When death is everywhere, there is destruction everywhere.”

He said that 40 percent of Gaza’s homes were destroyed. Israel’s ambassador to the UN hit back, describing the atrocities committed by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 raids and holding up photos of the dead.

The international community largely supported Israel’s right to defend itself after the raids, but is now facing increasing calls for a ceasefire to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Aid agencies said more than a million people had fled following Israel’s evacuation order to leave northern Gaza, putting huge demand on scarce resources in the south. About 30,000 people have since returned north after being unable to find shelter, food and water.

Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings on Thursday after Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip

Charities said famine was being used as a ‘weapon of war’ and people were so thirsty they had been drinking seawater. Israel has eased its ‘total siege’ of Gaza to allow some humanitarian aid to arrive in trucks from Egypt.

But aid workers say limited supplies of food, water and medicine are only a fraction of what is needed, and Israel has refused to allow fuel in, fearing it will be used by Hamas.

The UN said relief work could not continue without fuel as trucks could no longer distribute aid and bakeries could not make bread to feed the desperately hungry.

The World Health Organization said hospitals were “on the brink of an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe” as fuel and supplies ran out.

UN spokesperson Tamara Alrifai said dwindling fuel supplies are not enough for vital services. ‘Do we donate to the incubators or to the bakeries?’ she said. “It’s an unbearable decision.”

Last night, EU leaders called for “humanitarian corridors and breaks” to get aid into Gaza, but stopped short of calling for a total ceasefire.