Residents in Gaza and Israel are facing devastation, aid groups say

Thousands are seeking shelter inside UN schools as humanitarians call on Israel to open aid corridors

Palestinian women console one another outside a morgue in Khan Younis after identifying loved ones killed in an Israeli air strike. AFP

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Residents in Gaza and Israel are facing devastation after air strikes destroyed entire buildings on Wednesday, humanitarian groups told The National.

As the war enters its fifth day, more than 2,200 lives on both sides have been lost, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas is expected to escalate.

Many now fear a major ground invasion after some Israeli leaders spoke of an intention to militarily defeat Hamas. That would require a far bigger operation than a ground attack in Gaza in 2014, which led to more than 2,300 deaths.

“Buildings have been reduced to rubble. You look around and you see children's toys intermingled with debris on the streets, lying on the ground,” Sarah Davis, the International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson in Jerusalem, told The National.

“There's the smell of smoke and fire in the air. Every time someone breathes in, you can taste the dust,” she said.

“There's that real tension in the air, people are distraught, they don't know where their loved ones are. We're seeing footage of that, of the damage that has occurred,” she said.

“And of course, as the hostilities are still ongoing, this humanitarian toll will only continue to rise,” Ms Davis said.

Alia Zaki, a representative from the World Food Programme, told The National: “The situation right now is incredibly devastating and we are really alarmed by what’s happening because the food, electricity and fuel are about to run out in Gaza.”

Hospitals are struggling to treat the injured amid shortages of medical supplies, after Israeli air strikes demolished neighbourhoods in Gaza on Wednesday.

“The issue here is that there's complete lack of security, there's no sense of hope for living the next day,” Hisham Mhanna, the ICRC's representative in Gaza, told The National.

Mr Mhanna said the scenes were horrific as “we are witnessing entire areas fleeing … without clear and safe pathways to reach to safe havens”.

Since the fighting erupted, nearly 200,000 Palestinian residents living near the Israeli border have left their homes to take shelter in United Nations refugee agency schools.

People have arrived from all areas along the Gaza strip at schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

A Palestinian girl holds two children as she stands on a street in Gaza city as Israel continues to launch air strikes. AFP

Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes on Gaza city. AFP

A Palestinian girl following an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis. Reuters

Palestinians survey the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

A Palestinian woman, covered in dust, carries a child in Gaza city. AFP

A Palestinian man with a child outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city. AFP

Israeli soldiers walk through Kibbutz Be'eri. Days earlier Hamas militants killed more than a hundred civilians near the border with Gaza. Getty Images

A wounded Palestinian man Ala Al-Kafarneh, who survived Israeli strikes, attends a hospital in Gaza city. Mr Al-Kafarneh lost his pregnant wife and several members of his family in air strikes after they fled Beit Hanoun. Reuters

Supermarket shelves containing dry goods are left depleted in Tel Aviv. Getty Images

An injured Palestinian man arrives at Al-Shefa hospital in Gaza city. EPA

A boot lies on the ground outside a damaged house in Be'eri, Israel. EPA

An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer near the border with Gaza in southern Israel. AFP

Palestinian mourners during the funerals of Al-Agha family members killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Family and friends of May Naim, 24, who was killed by Palestinians militants at a party near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, during her funeral in Gan Haim, Israel. Getty Images

Palestinian children in Khan Younis fill bottles with water from public taps during the conflict with Israel. Reuters

Men outside a morgue in Khan Yunis console a woman mourning loved ones killed in an Israeli air strike. AFP

A Palestinian girl injured in Israeli strikes is taken to hospital in Gaza City. Reuters

An Israeli woman is evacuated by paramedics following a rocket attack launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, in Sderot. Reuters

A man looks at the destruction in the ravaged Jabalia refugee camp, following overnight Israeli air strikes. AFP

The daughter of Zakaria Abu Maamar, a member of Hamas's political office, at her father's funeral, after he was killed in an air strike in Khan Younis. Reuters

A collapsed building after an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City. AFP

Firefighters attend a burning building after an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City. AFP

Women and children in Gaza City. AFP

An Israeli army soldier passes a Merkava battle tank in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. AFP

An Israeli strike on the port of Gaza City. AFP

Demonstrators outside the West Los Angeles Federal Building in California during a rally in support of Israel. AFP

Mourners at the funeral of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli shelling in Khan Younis in Gaza. AFP

Israeli journalists take cover during a rocket attack from Gaza in the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza near the border. AFP

Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli air strike. AP

Mourners at the graveside of Eden Guez, who was killed as she attended a festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen from Gaza. Reuters

An Israeli fireman recovers after extinguishing cars set on fire by a rocket fired from Gaza. AP

Smoke billows from a boat after a strike by Israel on the port of Gaza City. AFP

Destroyed residential buildings in Gaza City. AP

Rockets from Gaza launched towards Israel. Reuters

A Palestinian woman sits among the rubble in the destroyed Al-Ramal neighborhood following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. EPA

Israeli soldiers in armoured vehicles near the northern town of Kiryat Shmona close to the border with Lebanon. AFP

Buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza city. Reuters

Nicole Izsak, right, confronts a Palestinian supporter near the Israeli consulate in New York, claiming her cousin is being held hostage in Gaza. AFP

The abandoned site of the Supernova music festival, besieged by Hamas militants in southern Israel. AFP

An attack on the site by Hamas gunmen from Gaza left at least 260 people dead. Reuters

A man carries a blood-stained flak jacket belonging to a Palestinian journalist, who was killed with two colleagues when an Israeli missile hit a hospital building while they were outside reporting, in Gaza city. Reuters

An Israeli soldier holds a rescued dog as he takes position near a bomb shelter in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel. Reuters

Protesters chant and wave the Palestinian flag at a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Getty Images

Israeli border police walk past a burnt-out car as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel. Reuters

Palestinians amid the rubble following Israeli air strikes that razed a neighbourhood in Gaza city. AP

Palestinians carry a wounded man at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. EPA

Palestinians inspect damage in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Almost a quarter million people in Gaza are now internally displaced either inside UNRWA schools, or staying with their friends or families, Mr Mhanna said.

Ms Zaki said the World Food Programme is calling for an immediate humanitarian corridor to be established, as well as advocacy efforts to ensure there is safe and unimpeded access to food and water.

The food programme's emergency operation aims to reach 800,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank, she added.

“We've reached so far 137,000 people with ready-to-eat food rations and 164,000 people with e-vouchers.

“We aim to reach 200,000 people in Unrwa shelters, people who are displaced, with ready-to-eat food rations and 300,000 people in Gaza who are either displaced or hosting their families who have been displaced, with in-kind food, which is more than just bread and canned tuna,” she said.

“We're exploring the possibility of being able to set up kitchens and be able to provide food that’s cooked and ready to eat,” she said.