Despite calls for Gaza’s civilian population to seek shelter in so-called humanitarian zones, these continue to be attacked by Israeli warplanes.
Since May last year, at least 97 airstrikes have been carried out against areas set up to protect Palestinian civilians, killing at least 550 people.
– We have said it so so many times. There is no safe zone in Gaza. No place is safe. No-one is safe. No place is spared, explains Juliette Touma, from the UN refugee agency UNRWA.
The BBC analyzed the Israeli attacks and found that the humanitarian zone, which includes the towns of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, has been heavily shelled. More than a million people live here – many in makeshift tent camps with limited access to food, water and medical care.
The IDF established the zone in October 2023 with the promise to keep civilians out of danger. But according to the UN and humanitarian organizations, the reality is different.
According to the BBC, more than 550 people have been killed in the 97 attacks documented in the zone – although Israel itself has only admitted responsibility for a minority of these. The analysis also shows that attacks have taken place near hospitals and residential complexes.
– We were displaced to Khan Younis because it was designated as a safe zone, but in fact we find nothing here but insecurity. We have been denied the true sense of security, with fear dominating our lives, says Khaled, who was urged by the IDF to move to the area.
The area in Gaza which Israel’s military has told people to go to “for their safety” has been hit by 97 strikes since May.
NRC’s access manager in Gaza highlighting the near daily strikes within the so-called “humanitarian zone” including from Israeli ships & small drones:
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— Jan Egeland (@NRC_Egeland) January 15, 2025
Journalists are killed
The Israeli army itself routinely claims that it is only attacking Hamas – and that the terrorist group is using the civilian population as human shields and using the humanitarian zone to attack Israeli targets with rockets.
Assessors, however, dismiss these explanations, saying that Israel uses the zone’s “humanitarian” status as a front, and that it is subject to frequent bombardments in the same way as the rest of Gaza.
The UN and human rights groups working in the area note that no “safe zones” exist in Gaza today. Gavin Kelleher of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) stresses that even the areas where refugees have been ordered to seek refuge can be attacked by warships or drones at any time.
More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in any other war and the Israeli military has also been accused of deliberately killing journalists and photographers to prevent any war crimes from being documented.
At the same time, very few journalists are granted Israeli permission to enter Gaza at all, and because reporting on the ground is so limited, it is often very difficult to get a picture of the scale of Israeli attacks.