SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
For the first time in 21 months of war, Israeli ground troops have pushed into central Gaza. Israel's military radio reported that a ground operation began yesterday.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Palestinians staying in several areas there have been ordered to evacuate. Central Gaza is also where many international aid organizations are, including the World Health Organization.
PFEIFFER: With us now is NPR's Emily Feng, who is in Tel Aviv. Good morning, Emily.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Good morning. And thanks for having me on.
PFEIFFER: Why is the Israeli military entering central Gaza now? And why is that noteworthy?
FENG: So Israel's military wants to ramp up pressure on Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal. And they're trying to show they're willing to cross lines that they had not been willing to cross before. Now, previously, Israeli ground troops had not really been active in this area, called Deir al-Balah, because they were concerned about potentially endangering hostages kidnapped by Hamas in its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, who might be in the area. But Israel and Hamas have been negotiating a ceasefire. And there is international pressure building from U.S. President Trump and also foreign ministers from more than 25 countries, which issued a statement yesterday calling for an end to the war.
Because of this ground offensive, the director of the United Nations office says its premises in central Gaza have already been hit in this new offensive. This was a house for the staff of the World Health Organization, which says its male staff were handcuffed, stripped and screened at gunpoint. And one of their staff remains detained. Now, we asked Israel's military about what happened here. They said they'd ordered evacuations, that they were responding to gunfire and that, quote, "suspects involved in terrorist activity may be required to temporarily remove certain items of clothing."
Now, who this ground offensive impacts most immediately however are the tens of thousands of Palestinians who are living where this ground offensive is taking place. The United Nations says that with this latest evacuation order, nearly 88% of Gaza is no longer accessible to civilians because it's now an Israeli militarized zone. And that means about 2 million civilians are squeezing into just about 12% of the area of the Gaza Strip.
PFEIFFER: Emily, NPR has been doing a lot of reporting about limited access in Gaza to food, housing, basic necessities. How is that squeeze you described affecting people's daily lives?
FENG: Well, they're getting pushed even more into a smaller fragment of the Gaza Strip, where these services you described have completely collapsed. I spoke to Jan Egeland about this. He is secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He has, he says, about 70 colleagues in Gaza. And they've been told by the Israeli military over the months to first move south in the Gaza Strip, now to central Gaza. And most recently?
JAN EGELAND: We now have to leave Deir al-Balah with the population. Our aid workers are herded around like cattle.
FENG: And with barely any food now allowed into Gaza, our NPR producer there, Anas Baba, has been reporting that people are quite literally fainting from hunger in the streets. And some people are dying. Egeland says the Norwegian Refugee Council has food ready to go into Gaza.
EGELAND: My organization has now had trucks, relief supplies, lifesaving relief supply, ready to go across the border crossings for 145 days. And we've been blocked every single day.
PFEIFFER: Emily, you mentioned ceasefire negotiations. How likely is a ceasefire at this point?
FENG: These talks are continuing in Qatar. Hopes are higher than they've been in recent weeks. But one main sticking point is that Israel wants to keep a military presence in Gaza. And even if a ceasefire deal is reached soon, it's going to likely leave the biggest questions unanswered, questions like who is going to administer Gaza in the future? And how can the Gaza Strip be rebuilt and made livable for the people there?
PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Emily Feng. Thank you.
FENG: Thanks, Sacha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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