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Nowhere to go: 'The whole population of Gaza is now squeezed into the south'

Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in Gaza's main southern city on Wednesday in some of the most intense combat of the two-month-old war sparked by the October 7 attacks. The focus of the conflict has shifted into the besieged territory's south following fierce fighting and bombardment that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced 1.9 million people to flee. The civilian mass casualties in Gaza have sparked global concern, heightened by dire shortages brought by an Israeli siege that has seen only limited supplies of food, water, fuel and medicines enter. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and free 138 hostages still held after scores were released during a short-lived truce. As Israeli forces battle Hamas in main southern Gaza, FRANCE 24's Mark Owen is joined by Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute (AGSIW) in Washington. He is also a weekly columnist for The National (UAE) and a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Daily Beast.