Civilians in Gaza could run out of food in 6 days and don't know where to seek refuge from Israel's counterattacks, advocacy group says

• Civilians in Gaza worry they may run out of food in as little as six days.
• With 210,000 Gazans already internally displaced, they say they don't know where to take shelter.

Civilians in Gaza fear they could run out of food in as little as six days as Israel launches counterstrikes on the Gaza Strip and invokes a "siege" of the region in response to Hamas' deadly attacks in the south of Israel on Saturday.

"Our colleagues in estimates and Gaza say within four to six days, they don't know if they will have essential supplies and essential food to survive," Ivan Karakashian, the head of advocacy in Jerusalem for the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council, told Insider on Tuesday.

"I hear from our staff that basically, they go down to their corner stores to try and get basic goods, whether it be flour, milk, eggs, those kinds of things. And the corner stores have all been depleted," he added.

As of Tuesday, Karakashian said about 210,000 Palestinians have been "internally displaced" as destruction from Israeli counterstrikes ruins their homes.

"It seems every half hour, that number jumps by about 10,000," he told Insider, and those Palestinian civilians don't know where to go to take shelter from the bombings.

"Our staff is reporting in Gaza, and what they're reporting that they're seeing are civilians, women and children with their belongings on the streets having left their homes, but unsure where to go for safety," Karakashian said. "So you walk out on the streets of Gaza, you see all these families there carrying their belongings, wanting to seek shelter somewhere, but not sure if there's anywhere that's safe in Gaza."

Israel has been warning civilians in Gaza to evacuate to safety from areas they intend to hit with bombs, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Karakashian said: "The short answer is nowhere safe in Gaza."

He added that there are concerns in Gaza over whether there is enough fuel available to power electricity throughout the region.

Karakashian said colleagues in Gaza reported there is enough fuel to last until Wednesday but that fuel imports that were about to enter through the Rafah crossing were turned back after Israel bombed the area.

Gaza is already operating with only four hours of electricity every 24 hours, Karakashian told Insider, relying on "the sole turbine and the sole power plant, and Gaza can continue operating," he said.

Karakashian added: "The minute that stops because of lack of fuel, then they won't get any electricity at all. And that includes hospitals and such places. So the situation is just extremely dire for Gaza right now. "

As of Tuesday, 830 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.

The Israeli death toll has surpassed 1,000 people since Hamas invaded Israel on Saturday, Israeli officials said. Hamas is also holding Israelis hostage — the militant group said it had about 100 people captive in Gaza. According to NBC News, the Israeli Defense Forces estimated the number to be over 30.