- Women Mayors writers
- May 26
- 14 min read
Updated: Jun 4
Israel’s attacks on cities in Gaza cause destruction and death on an unimaginable scale
According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip have been displaced during the war.
Last updated 4 June 2025
Repeated Israeli attacks have completely flattened large parts of Gaza City and other cities in the Gaza Strip. According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90 per cent of the population – across the Gaza Strip have been displaced during the war. Many have been displaced multiple times, with some experiencing displacement 10 times or more. Since the recent displacement orders were issued, more people have been forced to flee in search of safety.
Headlines
• Khan Younis, 4 June 2025: Israeli drone attack kills 12 Gazans sheltering in tents
• Rafah, 3 June 2025: At least 27 Palestinians killed while waiting for aid distribution, local medical staff reported
Background
June 2025: The Israeli military now controls over 50 per cent of the Gaza Strip following an aggressive expansion of what it calls a “buffer zone,” a strip of land cleared of all Palestinian presence and infrastructure. The zone, previously occupying 16 per cent of Gaza’s territory, has grown dramatically since Israel resumed its military offensive in March 2025, following a brief ceasefire. With this expansion, Israel has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, razed entire neighbourhoods, and cut the territory in half, raising international concern over possible long-term occupation and accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Rights groups have denounced the expansion of the buffer zone as a form of ethnic cleansing. “Through widespread, deliberate destruction, the military laid the groundwork for future Israeli control of the area.” Human Rights Watch told Associated Press (AP) that the actions inside Gaza’s buffer zones “amounted to ‘ethnic cleansing,’ because it was clear people would never be allowed to return.”
The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians and maintains that all operations are conducted in compliance with international law. “The army said it does not seek to harm civilians in Gaza, and that it abides by international law,” AP reported. It claims the buffer zone is a temporary measure intended to increase pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages and prevent further attacks.
Cities in Gaza under attack
The reports below cover the period January to June 2025. Women Mayors used Arab, Israeli, European and American sources.
Gaza City
Northern Gaza
Popl: 591,000 (2018)
4 June 2025: According to the BBC, Israeli strikes killed four people in northern Gaza - two in the Jabalia refugee camp, and two in Gaza City.
25 May 2025: In the besieged Palestinian enclave’s north, the Gaza City municipality warned of “a potential large-scale water crisis” because of a lack of supplies needed for urgent repairs to damaged infrastructure. Destruction from the war has “affected the majority of Gaza’s water infrastructure, leaving large portions of the population vulnerable to severe water shortages”, it said. Temperatures are rising and demand for drinking water is expected to increase, it added.
22 May 2025: The latest evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City and neighbouring areas came hours after the United Nations said it had begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza – the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on 2 March 2025. In an Arabic-language statement on 22 May 2025, the military said it was acting "with intense force" in 14 areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp.
Sources: France 24, BBC
Khan Younis
Southern Gaza
Popl: 206,000 (2018)
4 June 2025: Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis was the target of an Israeli air attack early on Wednesday, 4 June. According to the territory’s civil defence agency, the attack killed at least 12 people who were sheltering in a tent accommodation.
"At least 12 people were killed, including several children and women, in a strike by an Israeli drone this morning on a tent for displaced persons" near Khan Younis, the agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal told Agence France Presse (AFP), adding that four more people had been killed in other strikes.
The BBC quoted rescuers and health officials who told the British Broadcaster that 12 bodies had been recovered after two tents housing displaced families inside a school were hit. The BBC was also told that Israeli strikes killed four people in northern Gaza - two in the Jabalia refugee camp, and two in Gaza City.
The BBC and AFP approached the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for comment.
Sources: France 24, AFP, BBC
26 May 2025: The Israeli military (IDF) reissued a wide evacuation warning for the entire Rafah and Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, ahead of a planned major ground offensive. The military called for Palestinians residing in the areas to evacuate westward toward the Mawasi area on the coast, which Israel is set to declare as a “safer zone.” “The IDF will launch an unprecedented attack to destroy the capabilities of terror organisations in this area,” said a military spokesperson.
Source: The Times of Israel
26 May 2025: The latest death of 30 people resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.
Source: Reuters
25 May 2025: The Gaza Government Media Office has denounced the Israeli army strikes on the home of a Gaza doctor who killed nine of her 10 children. Seven of the children’s bodies were recovered, but two remained buried in the rubble.
Source: Al Jazeera
24 May 2025: Nine of a Gaza doctor's children were killed in an Israeli strike on their home on Friday night, Israeli media reported on Saturday. Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician, was working at the al-Tahrir Clinic at the time of the attack on her southern Khan Yunis home. The Israeli military has not responded to the event.
Source Jerusalem Post
Jabalia
Northern Gaza
Popl 173,000 (2018)
30 May 2025: After an evacuation order by the Israeli military, the last hospital providing health and emergency services in North Gaza is now out of service. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been informed. At the time of the evacuation order, 97 people, including 13 patients, remained inside the Al-Awda in Jabalia. The WHO is planning a mission to transfer patients to another facility, despite the ongoing insecurity. Due to impassable roads, the hospital’s medical equipment cannot be relocated. With Al-Awda’s closure, there is no remaining functional hospital in North Gaza, severing a critical lifeline for the people there. The WHO pleaded for the hospital's protection and staff and patients’ safety, and reiterated its call for the active protection of civilians and health care. Hospitals must never be attacked or militarised.
Sources: WHO; BBC
26 May 2025: At least 19 people were killed in an attack in the north of the Gaza Strip. More people were injured when Israeli warplanes bombed a house in Jabalia, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Minors are said to be among the casualties.
Source: Tagesschau
26 May 2025: A strike in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza has killed at least five people, including two women and a child. A spokesperson for a civil defence agency stated that some individuals remain trapped under the debris, as “the civil defence does not have search equipment or heavy equipment to lift the rubble to rescue the wounded and recover the dead.”
Source: The Guardian
25 May 2025: Palestinian medical sources announced on 25 May the death of journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda, director of the Barq Gaza news agency, following an Israeli airstrike that targeted his home in the Jabalia al-Nazla area in northern Gaza. The attack also claimed the lives of several of his family members. The Palestinian Centre for the Protection of Journalists strongly condemned the killing, describing it as part of a “systematic policy to suppress freedom of expression, erase the Palestinian narrative, and prevent the documentation of crimes on the ground.”
Source: Watan news agency
23 May 2025: Palestinians searched for bodies after an Israeli airstrike levelled a building in Jabalia, as Israel ramped up its Gaza offensive. At least 16 were killed Friday as aid trickled in for the first time in two months. Al-Awda hospital was hit, and aid trucks were looted.
Source Al Jazeera
Rafah
Southern Gaza
Popl: 172,000 (2018)
3 June 2025: Local health authorities in Gaza said on Tuesday, 3 June 2025, that at least 27 Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid distribution near Rafah. The Israeli military said it shot at individuals who "posed a threat to them" about half a kilometre from the US aid centre.
Israel said its forces do not prevent Gaza residents from reaching aid despite multiple reports of deadly attacks by Israeli forces near the US centre in recent days.
The United Nations human rights office said the impediment of access to food and relief for civilians in Gaza may constitute a war crime. "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law, and a war crime," The head of the UN agency, Volker Turk, said in a statement. The UN has called for an independent investigation into the killings of Palestinians near the US-backed aid centre in southern Gaza.
Sources: France 24; BBC
1 June 2025: According to the Red Cross, at least 20 people have been killed in the southern Gaza Strip. Hamas accuses Israel of carrying out an attack near a distribution centre for aid supplies.
According to the Red Cross, at least 21 people were killed and 175 others injured in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The people were trying to receive relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The Red Cross is not commenting on what happened at the distribution centre.
Hamas' media office accuses Israel of deliberately attacking the GHF distribution centre. The office reports that at least 22 Palestinians were killed and at least 115 were injured. Media close to Hamas report at least 30 dead.
Sources: Red Cross; Der Soiegel
1 June 2025: According to reports by Palestinian journalists, 26 people were killed and many injured when Israeli tanks opened fire near an aid centre near Rafah. Local people told the BBC that thousands had gathered near a humanitarian aid distribution centre when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
Source: BBC
28 May 2025: In Southern Gaza, Palestinians stormed a new distribution centre for aid supplies, with shots being fired. Thousands of people tore down fences around the compound on Tuesday, 27 May. One person died during the chaos, and more than 40 people were injured. The United Nations do not run the centre, but the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has only been active in Gaza for one day. A UN representative blamed Israel for the chaotic conditions, even though Israel's army denied this.
Palestinian rescue workers had previously reported three deaths. Information on the exact events also varies. What is certain is that the opening of a distribution centre for aid supplies in the south of the Gaza Strip by the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was met with a mass crush. According to Israeli media reports and eyewitnesses, there were chaotic scenes. There was talk of the distribution centre being stormed and looted. Videos showed people carrying boxes of relief supplies out of the crowd. The sound of gunfire could also be heard on the recordings. Palestinian rescue workers reported that there had been direct fire on people, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Foundation (GHF). According to the Israeli government, it plans to take over the supply of the Gaza Strip in future. According to the foundation, lorries with further aid supplies are to enter the area today, and the quantities delivered will increase daily. The four GHF distribution centres in the south and centre of the Gaza Strip are to be operated by US security companies. Israel wants to circumvent the aid organisations of the United Nations (UN) and other international aid agencies. The UN and other aid organisations reject the new system.
International critics complain that the new organisation would circumvent the UN and other aid organisations. GHF publicly launched early this year and is run by a group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials. It has the support of Israel and the United States.
On Sunday, 18 May, GHF Managing Director Jake Wood resigned from his post. Wood justified his decision by stating that the foundation was unable to fulfil its mission by ‘humanitarian principles’.
Sources: The Times of Israel, Der Spiegel, Tagesschau
26 May 2025: The Israeli military (IDF) reissued a wide evacuation warning for the entire Rafah and Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, ahead of a planned major ground offensive. The military called for Palestinians residing in the areas to evacuate westward toward the Mawasi area on the coast, which Israel is set to declare as a “safer zone.” “The IDF will launch an unprecedented attack to destroy the capabilities of terror organisations in this area,” said a military spokesperson.
Source: The Times of Israel
24 May 2025: Israeli forces uncovered and dismantled a tunnel network used by Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah following intelligence gathered during interrogations, the military said Saturday. According to the Israeli military, several Hamas members surrendered during operations by the 188th Armoured Brigade in the Shabura neighbourhood of Rafah. They were questioned by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency. The detainees reportedly provided information that led troops to a significant underground structure.
Source: The Media Line
22 May 2025: Israel’s Army is wiping Rafah off the map. Since breaking the ceasefire in March 2025, the Israeli army (IDF)has been systematically destroying the City of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
Source: Le Monde
2 April 2025: Israel orders the evacuation of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli military issued a sweeping new evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip - the biggest since its offensive in the Palestinian territory resumed earlier this month. The military instructed residents of the city of Rafah and parts of neighbouring Khan Younis to leave immediately for the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, warning that its forces were "returning to intense operations to dismantle the capabilities of the terrorist organisations" in the areas. Palestinians who had returned to their homes in Rafah during the recent two-month-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are now starting to flee. About a fifth of Gaza is now covered by evacuation orders.
Source: BBC
Beit Lahia
Northern Gaza
Popl: 90,000 (2018)
26 May 2025: An attack on a tent housing displaced people in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed a mother and her two children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Source: Reuters
22/23 May 2025: Bombarding families in their homes, on the streets and in community shelters and centres, Israel scaled up its military escalation in northern Gaza, killing dozens of people in a matter of hours as its troops advanced into Beit Lahia.
Source: Mada Media (Egypt)
23 May 2025: Israeli manoeuvres in the north began on 23 May evening with intensive aerial bombardment and tank build-up observed in Beit Lahia, before the Israeli military announced on 25 May the launch of its new military operation, “Gideon’s Chariots.”
Israel’s escalation in Beit Lahia included attacks on the facility, which was attempting to triage a deluge of people who had sustained injuries from attacks in the surrounding neighbourhoods, the director of the Indonesian Hospital, Marwan Sultan, told Mada Masr on Sunday. Hundreds of the wounded were transferred to the hospital, and medical teams were completely unable to handle the volume of need, he said.
Source: Mada Media (Egypt)
May 2025: The Israeli army continued its operation of blowing up homes and buildings in the western part of the northern town of Beit Lahia.
Source: AA
May 2025: Israeli troops advanced on Beit Lahia as negotiations between Israel and Hamas reached a deadlock in Doha.
Source: Mada Media (Egypt)
16 May 2025: Nearly 100 people, including children, were killed in a large-scale Israeli ground, air and sea attack launched in north Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defence and residents have said. The civil defence added at least nine homes and tents housing civilians had been bombed overnight, and it had received dozens of calls from people trapped. Witnesses also reported smoke bombs, artillery shelling and tanks in Beit Lahia. Israel's military said it was "operating to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure sites" in north Gaza and had "eliminated several terrorists" over the past day. This marks the largest ground assault on North Gaza since Israel resumed its offensive in March 2025.
Source: BBC
26 March 2025: The Guardian reported that hundreds of Palestinians, mostly male, had gathered in Beit Lahia, chanting anti-Hamas slogans.
November 2024: An Israeli air strike on a five-storey residential block in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza killed at least 34 people, the local civil defence agency said. The agency, quoted by AFP, said many of the dead were women and children, with dozens feared to be under the rubble. Seven people were also injured. The Israeli military said it had been striking militant targets in northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia, in an attempt to stop Hamas from regrouping.
Sources: BBC; AFP
Deir-al-Balah
Central Gaza
Popl: 76,000 (2018)
29 May 2025: At least four people have been killed in the storming of a UN World Food Program (WFP) warehouse in the Gaza Strip, according to the aid organisation. The WFP said that "hordes of hungry people" have broken into a food supply warehouse in central Gaza.
According to Palestinian reports, several people were killed during a tumultuous storming of a large UN World Food Program (WFP) warehouse in the Gaza Strip. Two people were fatally crushed in the dense crowd, and two others were killed by gunfire, according to medical sources at Al-Aksa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
According to the Red Cross, several women and children suffered gunshot wounds. The WFP confirmed the attack on one of the organisation's warehouses in the centre of the embattled Gaza Strip. "Hordes of hungry people" had entered the warehouse to "access the food provided for distribution", according to a statement published on X.
Sources: World Food Program, BBC, Tagesschau, Agence France Press
26 May 2025: An attack on a tent housing displaced people in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed a mother and her two children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Source: The Guardian
26 May 2025: An airstrike in the refugee camp Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory's civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics said.
Source: Reuters
24 May 2025: At least five Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike that targeted a commercial shop in central Gaza on 24 May. The attack, carried out by an Israeli drone, struck a store owned by the Abu Amra family in the Al-Hakr district of Deir al-Balah. The victims were civilians, according to the Wafa news agency, which said its correspondents had confirmed the attack on the ground. The latest strike adds to the rising toll of Palestinian lives taken by Israel's ongoing assault. Since dawn on Saturday, 52 people have been confirmed killed in the enclave.
Source: Middle East Eye
23 May 2025: Six members of a security aid team were killed early Friday in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, due to an Israeli air strike, as reported by the Hamas Government Media Office. The statement, sent to the Safa news agency, described the incident as “a horrific massacre” and accused the Israeli military of deliberately targeting the team as part of a strategy to “engineer starvation and obstruct humanitarian relief”.
Source: Middle East Monitor (Ardi Associates, London)
May 2025: At least 60 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza in 24 hours, the territory’s civil defence agency has said, as Israel intensifies its military offensive despite aid agencies warning that the Palestinian population is plunging deeper into malnutrition and famine. The dead included 10 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in the central town of Deir al-Balah and nine in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, al-Aqsa and al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
Source: The Guardian
Beit Hanoun
Northern Gaza
Popl: 53,000 (2018)
March 2025: The Israeli army began a ground offensive in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun amid a renewed assault on the Palestinian enclave, the army said. An army spokesperson claimed that the onslaught would target Hamas infrastructure and aim to expand a buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip.
Source: Anadolu Agency (AA)
Bani Suhella
Southern Gaza
Popl: 42,000 (2018)
March 2025: The Israeli army (Israeli Defence Force, IDF) warned residents of the southern Gaza town of Bani Suheila to evacuate their homes immediately ahead of a strike in their area. To all those present in the area marked as Bani Suheila, this was an early warning before a strike. The Israelis claimed that Hamas forces were returning to the area. ”For your safety, head west toward the known shelters immediately," an Israeli army spokesperson said in a post on X.
Sources: IDF, X; AFP
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