About 1.7 million Palestinians are estimated to be crammed into just one-fifth of the Gaza Strip, after more than one million people fled Rafah, according to the aid group Oxfam.

Most of the people who left Rafah have sought refuge in nearby al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis, an area totaling just 69 square kilometers (26 square miles), Oxfam added, Al Jazeera reported. 

“This area was designated a humanitarian zone, but there is nothing humanitarian about the situation here,” said Meera, an Oxfam staff member.

“The conditions are unbearable, there is no access to clean water, and people are forced to rely on the sea,” she said.