Israeli military orders evacuation of Gaza City
- In Reports
- 11:45 PM, Jul 10, 2024
- Myind Staff
The Israeli military has told all Gaza City residents to move south to the central Gaza Strip due to escalated operations in the northern area. Leaflets dropped by aircraft instruct "everyone in Gaza City" to evacuate the "dangerous combat zone" using designated safe routes, specifically two roads that lead to shelters in Deir al-Balah and al-Zawaida.
The UN has expressed deep concern about the evacuation orders being issued. This is only the second time since the war began that Gaza City as a whole has been instructed to evacuate.
In the past two weeks, Israeli forces have re-entered several districts of Gaza City, where the military believes Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have regrouped since the beginning of the year. This past week, the military ordered Palestinians to evacuate from eastern and central parts of the city. There was no immediate mass exodus out of the city following Wednesday’s order. Many Palestinians have concluded that there is no refuge in war-stricken Gaza.
The evacuation order was issued following a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of the territory. Early on Wednesday, Israeli bombardment targeted four houses in Deir al-Balah and the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, resulting in the deaths of 20 Palestinians.
According to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken, the dead included six children and three women. One of the houses hit in Deir al-Balah was within the "humanitarian safe zone" where Israel had instructed Palestinians to seek refuge.
The increased military activity coincided with U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari mediators meeting with Israeli officials in Doha to negotiate a long-sought ceasefire with Gaza's Hamas militant group.
Israel claims it is targeting Hamas fighters regrouping throughout Gaza nine months into the conflict. However, the recent heavy strikes across the territory might also be intended to increase pressure on Hamas in the ceasefire negotiations.
In a visit Wednesday to central Gaza, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said forces were operating in different ways, in multiple parts of the territory “to carry out a very important mission: pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.”
Hamas stated that Israel’s renewed activity threatened to derail negotiations over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal, which resumed on Wednesday in Qatar. The talks are being attended by the intelligence chiefs of Egypt, the US, and Israel, as well as the Prime Minister of Qatar.
There are estimated to be more than a quarter-of-a-million people still living in Gaza City.
In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops had "conducted a counterterrorism operation" overnight against Hamas and PIJ fighters who were operating inside the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City.
The troops had opened a “defined corridor to facilitate the evacuation of civilians” from the area before they entered the structure and “eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat”, it added.
There was no immediate comment from UNRWA.
The IDF also reported that it had killed dozens of fighters in Gaza City's eastern Shejaiya district and dismantled an underground tunnel route over the past day.
Speaking in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated that 60% of Hamas fighters had been killed or wounded since Israel’s offensive began.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy the Hamas group in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
In nine months of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 38,200 people and wounded over 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Nearly the entire population has been driven from their homes, with many being displaced multiple times.
Israel’s new ground assault in Gaza’s largest city has prompted what the U.N. described as a “dangerously chaotic” exodus of people scattering in multiple directions, unsure where to go. Some have fled to other parts of the north. The new Israeli military leaflets encouraged a mass movement south to the purported “humanitarian zone,” promising that people leaving Gaza City on the designated routes would not be stopped at Israeli checkpoints. However, many Palestinians fear arrest or humiliation by troops at the checkpoints.
After Israel on Monday called for an evacuation from eastern and central parts of Gaza City, staff at two hospitals — Al-Ahli and the Patients Friends Association Hospital — rushed to move patients and shut down, the United Nations said.
Hospitals in Gaza frequently evacuate preemptively at any hint of potential Israeli military action, fearing airstrikes. Over the past nine months, Israeli forces have targeted at least eight hospitals, resulting in the deaths of patients and medical staff, as well as extensive damage to facilities and equipment. Israel has alleged that Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes, although evidence provided has been limited.
Currently, only 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are operational, and they are functioning only partially, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian office.
Amidst the ongoing violence, international mediators were intensifying efforts to advance a proposed ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Recent days have seen Israel and Hamas making progress in narrowing their differences. However, obstacles remain, even after Hamas agreed to soften its main demand that Israel commit to ending the conflict as part of any agreement.
Hamas insists that mediators must ensure negotiations result in a lasting ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that he will not agree to any deal that does not involve eliminating Hamas before ending Israel's campaign in Gaza. Hamas on Monday accused Netanyahu of “putting more obstacles in the way of negotiations,” including the operations in Gaza City.
An Egyptian official stated that Abbas Kamel, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, travelled to Doha to participate in discussions regarding the deal. The official mentioned that U.S. and Israeli officials were also present at the meetings. Speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to brief the press on the meetings, the official disclosed this information.
The day before, CIA Director William Burns, who has been leading American mediation efforts, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo.
Image source: BBC
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