Gaza City (OCHA & Wafa):  Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land, and sea continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip on 1 February, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction. Ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported across much of Gaza.

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Four Palestinian civilians were killed and several others injured last night in an airstrike by Israeli forces targeting a residence in the eastern outskirts of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, according to local sources, repwrted Wafa news agenc.

The sources reported that the Israeli airstrike, aimed at the Deeri family home in the Nasr neighborhood, resulted in the killing of four individuals.

In Khan Yunis, a civilian was killed, and others were injured when an Israeli airstrike hit the Al-Amal School, which was providing shelter to displaced individuals in the city, located south of the Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, 13 more civilians were wounded in an airstrike targeting a house near the Palestinian Red Crescent Society headquarters in Khan Yunis.

Thousands of Palestinians continue fleeing to the southern town of Rafah, which is already hosting over half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people.

Most are living in makeshift structures, tents, or out in the open, according to UNRWA.

On 31 January, UNRWA reported that some 184,000 people had registered for humanitarian assistance in the western outskirts of Khan Younis, after they were displaced from Khan Younis city in recent days amid evacuation orders and continued hostilities. As of 29 January, according to UNRWA, there are an estimated 1.7 million IDPs in the Gaza Strip.

Health care in Gaza remains extremely precarious, according to WHO. As of 25 January, only 14 of 36 hospitals in Gaza are partially functional; seven in the north and seven in the south. Heavy fighting in the vicinity of Nasser and the Al-Amal hospitals in Khan Younis has continued, jeopardizing the safety of medical staff, the wounded and the sick, as well as thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) seeking refuge at the hospitals.

On 1 February, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that the Israeli military stormed the courtyards of the hospital for the third time and opened fire, hitting five vehicles, including three ambulances.

On the same day, the PRCS reported that two staff members had been killed by Israeli gunfire near the gate of the hospital the day before and reiterated that the fate of the two staff members in the ambulance team which was dispatched to reach a young girl in Gaza city on 29 January remains unknown.

According to Israeli authorities 1,139 Israelis were killed on 7 October by Hamas in southern Israel. 136 Israeli and foreign nationals remain captives with Hamas in Gaza.

[Photo: Injured Palestinian child being consoled by his mother at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on 31 1 24. Photojournalist: Ali Jadallah/ AA]