TEHRAN – Israeli forces have intensified their offensive on Gaza City, unleashing a combination of airstrikes, drone attacks, and ground assaults that have left neighborhoods in ruins.

Witnesses describe “apocalyptic” destruction on Friday as civilians flee southward in a desperate search for safety, with many forced to walk for hours carrying only what they can hold. Telecommunications blackouts have crippled rescue efforts and obscured the true scale of casualties.

Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN’s humanitarian office, told the BBC she had personally witnessed the devastation during a 29-kilometer trip into Gaza City that took 14 hours. “The things there, and the scenes on the way to Gaza City, are nothing short of cataclysmic,” she recalled.

Cherevko described a constant stream of people heading south on foot while hundreds of thousands remain trapped in the city. Her UN convoy came under near misses from Israeli strikes, underscoring the danger to both civilians and aid workers.

The Israeli military insists the operation is aimed at dismantling Hamas battalions, freeing captives, and eliminating what it calls “terror infrastructure.”

Yet humanitarian agencies say the tactics — advancing from multiple directions and forcing families toward the coast — amount to the systematic compression of civilians into shrinking, unsafe areas. With much of Gaza declared an evacuation zone, aid groups argue there are no true “safe zones” left.

Hospitals are collapsing under the dual weight of bombardment injuries and famine. The World Health Organization warns that critical facilities are running at several times their intended capacity, with life-saving supplies blocked at crossings.

Gaza’s Health Ministry announced Friday that hospitals recorded at least four new deaths from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, including one child, bringing the overall toll of hunger-related fatalities to 440 since the war began in October 2023.

The ministry added that since March 18, more than 12,600 people have been killed and over 54,000 injured in Israeli attacks, while at least 2,514 Palestinians have died and more than 18,400 have been wounded while trying to access food or aid.

Displacement has surged. Since mid-August, more than 200,000 people have fled northern Gaza, including 55,000 in just the past week, with the Israeli military announcing it estimates nearly 480,000 have now left Gaza City.

Many of those arriving in the south find no shelter and are left sleeping in the streets, as aid workers describe families carrying mattresses on their backs or pushing elderly relatives in wheelbarrows.

As Gaza City endures relentless bombardment, the United States once again blocked a ceasefire plan at the UN Security Council on September 18.

The draft resolution, supported by 14 members, demanded an immediate and unconditional halt to hostilities and unrestricted humanitarian access. Washington vetoed the measure, its sixth such action since the war began, arguing the text failed to condemn Hamas or recognize Israel’s right to self-defense.

Outside UN headquarters in New York, demonstrators booed and shouted ‘Shame on you!’ at U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus, who represented Washington at the session.

Palestinian groups reacted with outrage. Hamas condemned the veto as “blatant complicity” and a “green light” for continued massacres. The Islamic Jihad accused the US of acting as “an actual partner” in the war. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the move “deeply regrettable and painful,” while Algeria’s envoy implored, “Forgive us, Palestinian brothers, sisters.”

Human rights groups warned that the veto shields Israel from accountability and entrenches the humanitarian disaster.

With southern shelters overwhelmed, hospitals collapsing, and famine deaths climbing, international calls grow louder for a ceasefire that Washington continues to block. For civilians trapped in Gaza City, the cost of delay is measured in lives lost every hour.