Gaza's civil defense agency said Thursday it can no longer provide first responder services in the north of the territory, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to "bomb and kill" its crews.
Since October 6, the Israeli military has mounted a sweeping air and land assault on north Gaza, initially focused on the Jabalia area, describing it as an operation aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping.
"We are unable to provide humanitarian services to citizens in the northern governorate of the Gaza Strip due to threats from Israeli occupation forces, who have threatened to kill and bomb our teams if they remain inside Jabalia camp," said Mahmud Bassal, the agency's spokesman.
First responders had been "targeted" on several occasions, leaving "several members injured, and others are left bleeding on the streets with no one able to rescue them", he told AFP.
Bassal published a photograph of a burnt truck on social media, saying it was "the only civil defense vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip governorate", which includes Gaza City.
The truck, he said, was "targeted by the Israeli army" in the northern city of Beit Lahia, just north of Jabalia and near Gaza's northern border with Israel.
The Israeli army said it was conducting operations in the Jabalia area and had "eliminated dozens of terrorists".
Military activity in adjacent Beit Lahia has also forced Palestinians to flee.
Intensified operation
The Israeli army announced it would intensify operations in Gaza's ravaged north on October 6, with troops even encircling Jabalia and adjacent areas.
Since then, the military has steadily expanded its offensive to other parts in northern Gaza, and Bassal said on Thursday that more than 770 people have been killed so far in the assault.
He said the toll is expected to rise as the military operation continues in the area and "there are people still buried in the rubble".
The Israeli army has repeatedly told people to evacuate, and to do so they must pass through army-manned checkpoints.
Images posted online and verified by AFP show crowds of Palestinians waiting to cross such checkpoints, often supported by tanks, while several Palestinians reported mistreatment or detention during the process.
The UN refugee agency, UNRWA, says 400,000 people remain in Gaza's north, including Gaza City, and that within the governorate, tens of thousands have fled the northernmost areas subject to intensified Israeli operations, most to Gaza City.
The United States has pressured its ally Israel to allow more aid into north Gaza, saying the amount sent so far has "not been sufficient".
Israeli officials meanwhile have denied charges Israel was implementing a plan to starve out northern Gaza.
With AFP
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