Israel claims that militants are firing rockets from the areas covered by the evacuation order and warns of a military offensive.
– Hamas and terrorist organizations fire rockets from your area at Israel. The Israeli army will strike hard against these elements, says a statement from the army’s spokesperson.
The civilians have now been ordered to seek refuge in what Israel refers to as humanitarian zones. But these areas are constantly shrinking and are also regularly attacked.
Over 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants are now living on the run, and many families have had to flee time and time again on orders from Israel.
Saturday’s order covers Palestinians in parts of central Gaza, including the Maghazi district, which is near Zawaida. Residents say thousands poured out of Maghazi on Saturday.
The day before, the army also ordered the evacuation of parts of the southern city of Khan Younis, in areas that Israel has described as humanitarian zones. There, too, the rationale is that militant Palestinians fire rockets from there.
The UN estimates that Israel has forcibly evacuated 84 percent of the Gaza Strip. Friday’s order includes 170,000 internally displaced persons, estimates the UN emergency aid office OCHA.
– This is one of the most extensive evacuation orders to date, and it shrinks the so-called humanitarian areas to around 41 square kilometers or 11 percent of the Gaza Strip’s total area, OCHA states.
#ordered #flee #Gaza
2024-08-18 06:26:21