As the war between Israel and Hamas escalates, the U.N.’s special agency for Palestinian refugees warned Monday that under-siege Gaza is short of body bags.
“The number of killed is increasing. There are not enough body-bags for the dead in Gaza,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a press release.
Since Hamas launched its violent surprise attack in Israel nine days ago — killing more than 1,400 Israelis and triggering retaliatory air strikes from Israel and a siege of the Gaza Strip — 2,329 Palestinians have been killed, according to the report.
“Gaza has had no electricity, pushing vital services, including health, water and sanitation to the brink of collapse, and worsening food insecurity,” the agency added in the report.
Last week, Israel ordered civilians in Gaza City to evacuate to the south, as part of preparation for a ground assault on Gaza. More than a million people — which is nearly half of the Gaza population — have been displaced since, the UNRWA reported.
As fears grow that the Israel-Hamas conflict will spiral into a bigger, regional war, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday warned that the Middle East is “on the verge of the abyss.“