Palestinians stream into a southern Gaza town as Israel expands its

Palestinians stream into a southern Gaza town as Israel expands its offensive in the center

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Widespread devastation as more than 20 killed as Israel airstrike destroys residential building in Rafah

BY NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMY MAGDY AND JACK JEFFERY

Updated 10:45 AM CST, December 29, 2023

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into an already crowded town at the southernmost end of Gaza in recent days, according to the United Nations, fleeing Israel’s bombardment of the center of the strip, where hospital officials said dozens were killed Friday.

Israel’s unprecedented air and ground offensive against Hamas has displaced some 85% of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents, sending swells of people seeking shelter in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless also bombed. That has left Palestinians with a harrowing sense that nowhere is safe in the tiny enclave.

People arrived in Rafah in trucks, in carts and on foot. Those who haven’t found space in the already overwhelmed shelters put up tents on roadsides slick with mud from winter rains. With the new arrivals, the town and its surrounding area are now packed with some 850,000 people, more than triple the normal population, according to U.N. figures.

“People are using any empty space to build shacks,” said Juliette Touma, director of communications at UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. “Some are sleeping in their cars, and others are sleeping in the open.”