CAIRO, October 16. /TASS/. More than a million people have been forced to leave their homes in the Gaza Strip due to massive Israeli shelling of the enclave, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement.

"Over one million people - almost half the total population of Gaza - have been displaced. Some 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are in the Middle Area, Khan Yunis and Rafah, of those, nearly 400,000 are in UNRWA facilities - much exceeding our capacity to assist in any meaningful way, including with space in our shelters, food, water or psychological support," the agency said.

In addition, UNRWA confirmed the deaths of 14 of its staff in Gaza, noting that this number is not final and could rise.