Palestinian municipal authorities have declared the cities of Jabalia and Beit Hanoon in the northern Gaza Strip “disaster areas”.

Naji Sarhan, head of the Municipal Emergency Committee, told a news conference on Sunday that Israeli forces have destroyed some 50,000 housing units and bulldozed drainage networks and roads in most municipalities in northern Gaza.

“The Jabalia refugee camp and Beit Hanoon town are now disaster areas,” he said.

Sarhan added that 35 water wells and several schools and facilities run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have also been destroyed.

“The people of northern Gaza live in difficult humanitarian conditions with most residents lacking food, medicine and fuel,” he said.

The Palestinian official appealed to the UN and international organisations to “intervene immediately to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip”.

Israel’s crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since last October 7 has left the territory’s population on the verge of starvation, particularly in northern Gaza, home to nearly 700,000 people.

Last month, Israel captured the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, a vital route for humanitarian aid entering the Palestinian enclave.

Israel launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an October 7 attack led by Palestinian group Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people and saw nearly 240 others taken captive.

The bombardment has killed more than 36,400 people, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and injured over 82,600 others, according to local health authorities.