The UN Human Rights office in the occupied Palestinian territory says the Israeli military’s repeated strikes have led to massive civilian deaths in north Gaza in the last five weeks while its siege has cut off the population from humanitarian aid, medical care and emergency rescue service, Al Jazeera reports.

Most of the incidents, the OHCHR said in a statement, were strikes on residential buildings where entire families were sheltering, resulting in a high number of fatalities

“The strikes have disproportionally affected women, older people and people with disability, many of whom are reportedly trapped due to restricted movement and attacks on escape routes,” it said.

It also said that the Israeli military has attacked the workers of the Palestinian civil defence department, forcing the department to suspend its operations on October 24, “depriving residents of North Gaza all support in recovering their loved ones who are left to die trapped under rubble”.