TEHRAN – The Israeli occupation regime is escalating its atrocities against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

Scores of Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), as the regime intensifies its terrorist and genocidal assault on Gaza City in an effort to forcibly displace its residents. 

According to reporters, people’s homes are being attacked “with no prior warning” as IOF infantry and warplanes carry out widespread demolitions of houses to prevent families from returning to their original neighborhoods in the north of the Strip. 

The Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed on Saturday that the IOF has forcibly displaced around 270,000 Palestinians from Gaza City toward the southern parts of the enclave, as part of a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing.

Despite the intensity of the attacks, over 900,000 Palestinians remain in Gaza City and the northern areas. Remarkably, the office noted a wave of reverse displacement, with more than 22,000 people returning to their original neighborhoods inside the city.

According to reports Palestinian families have found no safe routes while trying to seek refuge in overcrowded tent camps in southern Gaza amid indiscriminate IOF bombings. 

Experts also note that many Palestinians are willing to risk death in northern Gaza rather than being forcibly displaced again during this genocidal war. 

The Gaza Media Office further warned that the occupation regime is planning to establish “concentration camps,” as part of a policy of forced displacement aimed at emptying Gaza City and its northern areas of residents.

According to medics and reporters on the ground over 50 Palestinian civilians were just killed by IOF fire on Saturday, with 40 of them in Gaza City alone.

Among the dead are six civilians killed in an attack on the Mashahira area, and nine others near al-Shawa Square in al-Tuffah neighborhood in northeastern Gaza City. In western Gaza City, four people were killed and many others were injured when the IOF bombed a residential home in al-Shati refugee camp.

In central Gaza, al-Awda Hospital reported receiving over a dozen individuals following an IOF strike on a group of civilians gathered in al-Nuseirat camp. In the south, Nasser Medical Complex confirmed at least six casualties, all of them were waiting for aid near the city of Rafah.

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on Saturday afternoon a further 234 casualties over the past 24 hours, including three bodies newly recovered. 

This brings the total number of casualties from the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, to 65,208 dead and 166,271 injured. 

The number of those killed while seeking humanitarian aid has now reached 2,518, with more than 18,449 injured. In the past 24 hours alone, hospitals have received 4 bodies and 18 wounded civilians from these deadly aid-seeking incidents.

The death toll from starvation continues to climb, with two more deaths reported, bringing the total to 442, including 147 children.

This sharp rise in deaths and injuries comes as the World Health Organization warns that Gaza’s hospitals have collapsed.