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Gaza, 25 March 2025 – The humanitarian situation in Gaza has rapidly deteriorated since Israel resumed its large-scale military onslaught on 18 March 2025. Gaza's residents, once again, find themselves trapped in the same unbearable circumstances they have endured for the 15 months of Israel’s genocide. Israeli forces persist in attacking Palestinian civilians, killing and injuring them in their homes, tents, and shelters. Their suffering is further exacerbated by Israel’s deliberate starvation policy. All crossings have remained closed for 23 consecutive days, blocking life-sustaining humanitarian aid from reaching the population. Additionally, Israeli forces continue to issue mass forced displacement orders across various areas of Gaza.
Since Tuesday, 18 March 2025, relentless Israeli bombardments have struck densely populated residential neighborhoods, destroying homes with their occupants inside. Entire families have been wiped out, and hundreds of children and women have been killed by various means, including aerial bombings, artillery shelling, and gunfire from quadcopters.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll over the past seven days, since the resumption of large-scale Israeli attacks, has reached 730, with 1,367 others injured. Since October 2023, total casualties have risen to 50,082 killed and 113,408 injured—70% of whom are women and children.
Meanwhile, Israel has tightened its blockade on Gaza, keeping all crossings closed since 2 March 2025 and blocking the entry of humanitarian aid, further exacerbating shortages of food, medical supplies, and basic services. Months of systematic blocking of sufficient humanitarian aid, now followed by a total ban, will precipitate an unprecedented famine in Gaza. The Deputy Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, has warned that Israel’s continued closure of border crossings is having catastrophic consequences on the population. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced on Friday, 21 March 2025, that its flour supply will last for just six more days.
Basic goods have disappeared from markets, particularly meat and vegetables, while the prices of staple items, such as flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil, and baby formula, have skyrocketed. Thousands of families are now unable to ensure food security. The impact of this deliberate starvation policy is devastating for families. W.M., a resident of Gaza, describes the struggle to feed his children amid worsening shortages:
"I have eight children. I could barely secure food, especially flour, or water through the aid we used to receive from UNRWA and other relief organizations. I also used to buy vegetables, meat, and other essentials from the market. But for the past three weeks, we haven’t received anything from any source. When I go to the market, I can’t find the most basic items, and if I do, the prices are astronomical. I return home empty-handed. Now, we only eat one meal at Iftar [the meal to break the fast at sunset during Ramadan], and even that in limited quantities. We don’t have enough flour or food for Suhoor [the pre-dawn meal before fasting begins]. I’m deeply worried about what will happen when our remaining flour runs out in a week. We are already hungry, and I don’t know how we will survive if aid continues to be blocked."
In parallel, Israeli forces continue to issue mass displacement orders across various areas of Gaza. Initially, these orders targeted all regions along the eastern and northern borders, including all of Beit Hanoun, but have since been expanded to include Beit Lahiya in the north, Bani Suheila Khan Younis, as well as Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. On Sunday morning, 23 March 2025, as people began evacuating the Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah toward Khan Younis City, Israeli vehicles suddenly cut off the road and opened fire directly at them, killing several. According to eyewitnesses, bodies were seen on the ground near the Al-Baraksat area and the Saudi neighborhood, west of Rafah.
The Israeli military also set up a checkpoint near the Helmi Saqr mosque, west of Tal Al-Sultan, and arrested several individuals. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that in the early hours of the raid on Tal Al-Sultan, several medics and ambulances went missing after heading to evacuate wounded in the Al-Hashashin area, west of Rafah. Additionally, the Civil Defence reported losing contact with its teams in the Al-Baraksat area, west of Rafah, while they were attempting to rescue the PRCS ambulance teams. Israeli forces continue to besiege Tal Al-Sultan, encircling homes and displaced people’s tents in the Al-Eqlimi area, west of Rafah.
Hundreds of families have been forced to flee their homes and tents following Israel’s displacement orders, seeking shelter in streets and public squares amid relentless airstrikes. They endure extreme hardship without access to necessities, struggling to find shelter and essential supplies. M.J., a father of six from Bani Suheila, recounts his ordeal of forced displacement:
"My home was destroyed, so I set up a tent near the ruins. At around 04:00 pm on Thursday, 20 March 2025, just days after the ceasefire ended, Israeli forces ordered us to evacuate. Chaos and panic spread among everyone. I hurried to gather our belongings and find a way to transport my family westward. The weather was stormy and freezing. Eventually, I managed to get a donkey cart and moved to western Khan Younis. We searched for hours, even after sunset, trying to find a place to set up our tent in the cold and rain. Now, we are in a makeshift tent in Al-Mawasi, suffering from extreme shortages of food, water, and essential supplies. I have no money to support my family, and we rely on soup kitchens for meals, which are scarce and irregular."
Al Mezan unequivocally condemns Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and the mass killing of its population. We further warn of the catastrophic humanitarian conditions endured by over two million Palestinians in Gaza, who are left without sufficient food and water, while many have no shelter. Meanwhile, Israel continues to overlook Palestinian suffering, disregarding their fundamental human rights in pursuit of a political agenda grounded on settler-colonial and genocidal policies.
Israel's ongoing genocide and policy of collective punishment are part of its broader strategy to make life in Gaza unbearable and forcibly expel its population, in total disregard of international law and UN resolutions. This includes the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures under the Genocide Convention, which were intended to ensure the safety and security of Palestinians.
Al Mezan reiterates its urgent call on the international community to compel Israel to halt its genocide, end its use of starvation as a weapon of war, and take immediate action to protect civilians by lifting the closure and blockade on Gaza, ensuring the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to its population. Furthermore, Al Mezan calls on the international community to end Israel’s impunity, which has enabled the ongoing crimes. The only way to stop this genocide is to activate international accountability mechanisms and hold Israeli perpetrators responsible for their actions.