The The Israeli military published new evacuation warnings for areas of central Gaza on Sunday, in one of the few areas where the military has rarely operated with ground troops.
The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave.
The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, but negotiations have been stalled for months.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it controlled more than 65 per cent of the Gaza Strip.
Also on Sunday, 65 Palestinians were killed, many while attempting to seek aid, according to local hospitals.
Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah told The Associated Press that the hospital since Sunday morning had received 48 people who were killed and 150 who were wounded while seeking aid from trucks expected to enter Gaza from the Zikim Crossing, on the northern border between Gaza and Israel. He confirmed that at least 40 people of those killed were fatally shot.
It is unclear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs or both. However, that death toll is likely to increase, said Abu Selmiyah.
In southern Gaza, Nasser hospital said 17 Palestinians were killed and 69 wounded around aid distribution sites in the southern city of Rafah.
Cutting off access
The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is where many international organizations attempting to distribute aid are located.
The United Nations has been in contact with the Israeli authorities to clarify whether UN facilities in southwestern Deir al-Balah are included in Sunday’s evacuation order, according to a UN official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The official said in previous instances UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders. The evacuation announcement reaches from a previously evacuated area all the way to the coast and will severely hamper movement for aid groups and civilians in Gaza.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that the military will attack “with intensity” against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza’s southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone.
Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
Israel’s military offensive that followed has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many militants are among the dead but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government but the U.N. and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organisation that represents many of the families of hostages, condemned the evacuation announcement and demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military explain what they hope to accomplish in the area of central Gaza, accusing Israel of operating without a clear war plan.
“Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,” the forum said. On Saturday night, during the weekly protest, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tel Aviv to the branch of the US
Embassy, demonstrating for an end to the war.
Humanitarian disaster grows
On Sunday morning, ambulances in front of three major hospitals in Gaza sounded their alarms simultaneously in an urgent appeal to shed light on the hunger crisis in the territory. The health ministry posted pictures on social media of doctors holding paper signs about malnourished children and lack of medication.
Zaher al-Wahidi, one of the spokespeople at the health ministry, said that at least nine children under 5 years old have died of malnutrition as of Sunday since the Israel’s imposed aid entry blockade in March.
He explained that tracking the number of people dying of starvation is hard because some could be suffering from other medical conditions that could be worsened when compounded with severe hunger.
In northern Gaza, Shifa Hospital director Abu Selmiyah said that the hospital recorded 79 people who died of malnutrition in the past month.
Israeli bombardments continued to pound the Gaza Strip overnight. Large explosions in northern Gaza were visible from Israel as plumes of fire shot into the sky. (AP)
