You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Death Toll in Gaza Tops 35,000 as Israel Intensifies Attack from Rafah to Northern Gaza

HeadlineMay 13, 2024

Israel is intensifying its attacks across the Gaza Strip, from Rafah to Jabaliya, the largest refugee camp in Gaza. The official death toll has now topped 35,000, including more than 14,500 children. According to the United Nations, more than 360,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah despite fears there is nowhere to go to escape the Israeli bombardment.

Zeinab al-Kahloot: “There’s no safe place. The situation is very hard. There’s no food, no drinks. Even the water is hard to get. My children cry and tell me, 'Mother, we want to drink,' and I don’t know what to do. I’m like everyone else who left Rafah and came here. And we are displaced here, but there’s no safe place. The situation is really hard.”

Palestinian health officials are warning the entire system in Gaza is hours from collapse due to a massive fuel shortage following Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing. Over the weekend, Israel ordered the forced evacuation of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah. Israel’s attack on Rafah faces growing international condemnation. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel should “get out of Gaza.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s advance on northern Gaza is forcing many displaced Palestinians in Gaza City to flee again.

Umm Ali: “What happened with us is that the Israeli forces dropped flyers on us to evacuate the camp as there will be strikes. We left the camp, but we don’t know where to go. We don’t know where to head. We don’t have food or drink or clothes. … What do they want from us? They’re killing us and our children. Shame on them. What shall we do? We’re staying on the streets. This is just so unjust. Have some mercy on us, Arabs, Muslims, Americans. Have mercy on us. We’re being slaughtered. Shame on you. We’re all being killed. Shame on you. Why are you doing this to us?”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top