Aid blockade Malnutrition is spreading, say doctors

Malnutrition is spreading in Gaza, medics and aid workers in the devastated Palestinian territory are warning as a blockade of all supplies enters a fourth week.

- Jason Burke and Lorenzo Tondo

There has been no sign that Israel will open entry points to allow in aid or scale back its new offensive in Gaza, which started last Tuesday with airstrikes that killed 400 people, most of them civilians. Palestinian officials yesterday said the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict had passed 50,000.

An airstrike in the city of Khan Younis yesterday killed Salah Bardawil, a member of Hamas's political leadership bureau. And the Israel Defense Forces issued new evacuation orders to Palestinians in areas west of Rafah on the border with Egypt.

The city was the target of a major offensive about a year ago and is where Israel's military is focusing its ground operations. The orders specified that vehicle movements would not be allowed.

The military orders said: "The IDF has launched an operation to dismantle terrorist organisations. You are currently in a dangerous combat zone. Distance yourself from the combat zone immediately."

At least 19 Palestinians were killed overnight, medical officials said yesterday. Two hospitals in southern Gaza said they had received 17 bodies following Israeli strikes, including those of women and children. The toll did not include Bardawil and his wife, who died with him.

The IDF says its troops have encircled the Tal al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah where its objective is to "dismantle terrorist infrastructure and eliminate" militants.