Israel's bombardment of Gaza: The Impact on aid and Palestinians on the ground

We begin in Gaza where Israel is intensifying its military operations. It says the new offensive aims to defeat Hamas and bring home hostages that the militants are still holding. Palestinian officials say more than 150 people have been killed in the latest bombardments, which come during the third month of Israel's blockade of aid into the territory. The victims of Israel's latest offensive are rushed to the Nasser hospital in southern Gaza. Nothing can be done for the dead and little for the survivors. The hospital itself has been debilitated by Israeli airstrikes and a shortage of supplies. Among those killed in a drone strike, a young family. An entire family was erased. They had a baby girl after nine years of marriage and were always afraid for her. They didn't want to send her to school but stayed together so they would die together if bombed. They were inseparable. Bombs also fell on tents in a camp in Deir al-Bala, wounding several displaced people. Here they worry the strikes won't only take lives, but also food. The tent was hit. Even what's left of rice, pasta or anything, all of it is gone after the tent was hit. Israel is stepping up strikes and mobilizing troops and says it won't stop until it retrieves all hostages and dismantles Hamas. Israel has blocked supplies from entering Gaza since early March, saying it wants to deprive Hamas of resources. At the Arab League summit in Baghdad, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm at recent escalations. Nothing justifies the atrocious October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, but nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. We need a permanent ceasefire now. The unconditional release of all hostages now. And the free flow of humanitarian aid ending the blockade now. One of Israel's strongest backers is also expressing concern at the looming famine in Gaza. At the end of his Mideast tour, which did not include a stop in Israel, US President Donald Trump said he would deal with the situation. And we're looking at Gaza and we got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. There's a lot of bad things going on. But US-backed plans to distribute food via private security firms at fortified hubs is also alarming aid groups who say it could displace even more residents and support Israel's aim of seizing full control of the entire Gaza Strip. And for more, we can speak to Rosalia Bolin. She is a spokesperson for UNICEF in Gaza. Welcome to We understand that UNICEF has both local and international staff on the ground in Gaza. What are your colleagues telling you about the impact of the latest military offensive by Israel? The reports I'm getting from my colleagues are dramatic. They're frankly unbearable to read or to listen to. The airstrikes, the explosions have been intensifying considerably over the past three days. And what that means is that colleagues hear almost every two or three minutes loud explosions, including in the vicinity of the UNICEF guest house and UNICEF offices where they are staying. They speak about being terrified. They're really on edge. It's hard to sleep at night. One Italian colleague called it the never ending sound of death because with each explosion, you know, people are getting hurt, including many children. Since the beginning of the resumption of this military offensive on March 18th, at least 950 children have been reported killed and thousands more have been been injured very often severely. And of course, children are often bearing the brunt of this type of violence and these bombardments that you've been describing are also happening as Israel's aid blockade to Gaza approaches the 11 week mark. And we understand that you were there when it began on March 2nd. What's the impact of this aid blockade? Already on March 2nd, the impact was immediate because the products that were on the market on that very day, their prices doubled. And then a day later, the prices had tripled. And since March 2nd, prices have been increasing exponentially. There's been this incredible inflation really. Products have also disappeared fairly quickly from the market. Mid-March, when I was still there, at one point you didn't see fruit anymore and you didn't see certain vegetables, meat disappeared, chicken, fish, that all disappeared rather quickly. And the little items that are left right now, they're simply not affordable for anyone in Gaza. People go hungry every single day. My colleagues met a lady last week, a mother with five children. She's on her own. She had no food. She has no supplies at all. She managed to find some old bread in the trash. It has mold on it, but it was better than nothing, she said. And so she tried to boil water, make tea, and then dip the bread in that and feed that to her five children. That's the reality of parents in Gaza today. Parents are trying to skip meals to save food for their children. But we've reached a point now where there's just hardly anything left to eat. And so many families are going hungry and children are definitely the first victims of that. Children's bodies are still developing. They're still growing. They are impacted the most. That was Rosalie Bolen from UNICEF, UNICEF spokesperson for Gaza. We really appreciate you joining us and speaking on behalf of the children who are impacted by this conflict. Thank you for your time. Thank you.