Name: Israel continues military assault in Gaza's Deir al-Balah | BBC News
Uploaded: 2025-07-22T16:59:12.000Z
Duration: 10 min 14 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The head of the UN says he's appalled by what he calls the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, as international criticism of Israel intensifies.

On the ground, Israeli forces are continuing their offensive in central Gaza, specifically in the area Deir al-Bala.

While the World Health Organization says that two locations there, a warehouse and staff accommodation, have been attacked, it said employees were handcuffed, stripped and interrogated at gunpoint by Israeli forces.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen targeted at Ben Gurion airport.

On Monday, 28 countries, including Britain and France but not the US, released a statement calling for an end to the war, something that Israel described as disconnected from reality.

Well, in the last hour, the BBC spoke to the UK Foreign Secretary about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

I described what I saw yesterday in Parliament as grotesque.

These are not words that are usually used by a foreign secretary who's attempting to be diplomatic.

But when you see innocent children holding out their hand for food, and you see them shot and killed in the way that we have seen in the last few days, of course, Britain must call it out.

Of course, Britain must lead others in the statement, as I did yesterday, to call it out.

Of course, we must get on the phone and we must urge Israel to think again, as I did again yesterday.

And we will continue to pressure, we will continue to add, we will continue to urge this Israeli government to listen to 83% of its public who are urging them now to move to a ceasefire so those hostages can come out.

David Lammy there, the UK Foreign Secretary.

I am joined now by our Gaza correspondent, Rushdie Abu Alouf.

What is the latest reliable information that we have about the situation on the ground on how people are facing with this lack of food, how people are faring?

Well, the situation remained very tense on the ground, especially in the middle, in the area.

You know, the last remaining standing area in Gaza that has been subject to a very tough Israeli operation started about 48 hours ago, with a general warning to several blocks in the city, which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of people who fled since the fighting renewed back in March from Rafah and Khan Yunis.

We have seen thousands of people moving to Al-Mawasi area and also to other smaller camps near the fighting in Deir el-Balah.

Still there, people talking about big explosions in the area.

What is significant about Deir el-Balah is that most of the international organisation, including the WHO, they moved their operation to this area because it was relatively safe.

Maybe it was the safest place in Gaza since the Hamas attack in October the 7th.

But in general, the situation across Gaza Strip is catastrophic when we talk about humanitarian situation.

Most of the people are suffering from starvation in northern Gaza.

The Hamas run health ministry just said that two children died in two different hospitals because of the lack of food in Gaza City and one in Khan Yunis, bringing the number of people died from hunger to 22 people.

Overnight, there was about 15 people were killed near GHF center in central Gaza while queuing to get food.

I spoke to a friend just about half an hour ago in Gaza and he said that he didn't eat for the last 48 hours.

He said because one bag of flour, one kilo of flour would cost you about $75 or $80.

Rushdi, you talked about speaking to a friend there.

Can you explain to us how you are getting information?

The BBC, like other major journalist organisations, is not allowed to operate within Gaza.

We don't know what its sources are operating to and how they are struggling.

How are we getting the latest up-to-date information?

It is critically, it is very difficult to contact people in Gaza.

Sometimes I spend two hours trying to make one phone call to people inside Gaza because of the lack of communication, lack of fuel, most of the communication infrastructure is destroyed.

Israel did not allow foreign journalists in, but there are still hundreds of local Palestinian journalists who usually post in WhatsApp groups, they post videos, they collect information from different places.

Also, there are some people who have SIM cards that are using Israeli network to access the internet.

We have a very long border with Israel, so people who are close to this area can get some signals from Israeli operators in the area using SIM cards.

It remains extremely difficult and there is a lot of conflicting reports.

Verifying the information is a real issue in Gaza, but we are trying all the time to talk to people across Gaza and just understand what is going on.

This morning, there was also a significant strike in a beach camp in western Gaza.

Western Gaza is the only area where about half of the population is located because there is a general evacuation order for the north and the east of Gaza.

The airstrike killed about 14 people, I think among them three or four children, according to the hospital in Gaza.

About 46 people, according to civil defence agency, they were killed since midnight.

I'm joined now by Juliet Tuma, communications director at the UN Refugee Agency.

We are seeing increasing concern about the situation on the ground and concerns about starvation.

We saw that very strongly worded letter from a number of countries released yesterday.

What is the latest information that you have on how people are faring?

Our own staff at UNRWA are fainting while on duty due to hunger and exhaustion.

Many of them were also forced to flee given the latest displacement order that your correspondent just spoke to.

And the Israelis have said that they have urged UN agencies to work with their own operation.

Is that something that you are able to engage with?

No, because the system that's been put in place, that's supported by both the governments of Israel and the United States is against the humanitarian principle and is totally unnecessary.

In fact, it's taking more lives than saving lives.

It's managed by the United Nations and has been supported per the statement that you mentioned by 25 foreign ministers.

During the ceasefire earlier this year, we've been bringing in 500 to 600 trucks a day.

And this is the only reason why famine was averted earlier this year.

And are you not operating with the Israeli arrangement because of practical concerns or because of principle?

Because people will ask, well, isn't it better to get the food in somehow?

Since the 2nd of March, when the Israeli authorities posed a tight siege on Gaza, UNDRA has not been allowed to bring in any trucks.

We have 6,000 trucks in places like Jordan, like Egypt.

There's no reason why these trucks cannot get in.

We have staff on the ground, 10,000 of them spread across the Gaza Strip, who will take that food and those other supplies, like hygiene supplies, like medicines, and give it to people in need.

And what stage do you think people now are?

Because when we talk about starvation, how long can people survive under this current system?

Because obviously people are appalled by the images and the stories that we are seeing and hearing.

We've passed the threshold of being concerned or appalled many, many months ago.

It's been 650 days of nightmares for the people of Gaza, except it's real.

The people of Gaza are being deliberately starved.

And there should be a ceasefire, a deal, a release of the hostages and a standard flow of humanitarian supplies managed by the UN, including UNRWA.