The Israeli military has issued new evacuation orders in the southern part of Khan Younis in Gaza, further expanding an area where displaced Palestinians have been forced to seek shelter. In a statement released on Saturday, the military indicated that remaining in the area has “become dangerous” due to rockets fired by Palestinian fighters.
The military claims that this adjustment is being implemented based on precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terrorist infrastructure within the area defined as a humanitarian zone. They added that they are “operating with force” in the region.
This latest evacuation order comes one week after the Israeli military issued an evacuation directive for eastern parts of Khan Younis and initiated a new ground invasion, several months after their operations had already begun in the area. According to the United Nations (UN), the invasion of Khan Younis has displaced at least 180,000 Palestinians in the first four days, with many having to move without their belongings.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud reported from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza that people are expected to move to “safe” areas, despite repeated international warnings that there is no safe place. “What we are witnessing on the ground, based on patterns of how this has unfolded, suggests that this is more of a forced internal displacement for a population that is already displaced in the southern part of Khan Younis, which was already fleeing from the eastern part of Khan Younis when the Israeli military expanded its operations,” he stated.
Mahmoud noted that an airstrike killed many people in a home in the area on Saturday morning, prior to the Israeli military ordering the latest mass evacuation through flyers, SMS messages, phone calls, recorded audio messages, and Arabic-language media broadcasts. Medical sources informed Al Jazeera that 14 bodies had arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis since the morning hours.
An Al Jazeera correspondent also reported that Israeli artillery fire has been directed at the city of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis. The Israeli military continues its deadly attacks on areas within the besieged enclave, including Rafah in the south. They have confirmed that they have struck “dozens of targets” over the past day, including the Zeitoun neighborhood in the northern part of Gaza City, which has been repeatedly targeted for months.
UN agencies have condemned Israel’s policy of mass displacement of Gaza’s civilian population and military attacks on areas that had previously been declared as humanitarian “safe zones” by Israel. Since the onset of the current conflict in October, the Israeli military has killed over 39,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with more than 90,000 injured and thousands reported missing.