Israel orders the evacuation of the population from part of the main city in southern Gaza

Israel on Monday ordered people to leave areas of the main city in the southern Gaza Strip as it intensified its ground campaign across the south, sending desperate residents fleeing even as bombs fell in areas still described as safe.

The Israeli army released a map on X on Monday morning in which about a quarter of the city of Khan Younis is marked in yellow as territory that must be emptied immediately. Three arrows pointed south and west, telling people to head towards the Mediterranean Sea and the Egyptian border.

Many of those fleeing had already been displaced from other areas, many sleeping in makeshift shelters with their few belongings in plastic bags.

Abu Mohammed told Reuters it was the third time he had been forced to flee since abandoning his home in northern Gaza City.

“Last night, Israeli tanks shelled from the east, north and west, and also from (ships) out to sea, with rings of fire around us, and the house was left shaking and covered in the red light of the explosions, causing panic and horror in both adults and children,” he said. “Why did they expel us from our homes in Gaza City if they intended to kill us here?”

At a house hit overnight in Khan Younis, flames could be seen from collapsed bricks and gray smoke rising from the rubble. A child’s stuffed animal lay in a pile of dust. The boys were overturning the wreckage with their hands.

Next door, Nesrine Abdelmoty stood among damaged furniture in the rented room where she lives with her divorced daughter and two-year-old son.

“We were sleeping at 5 in the morning when we felt things were going to pieces, everything was upside down,” he told Reuters. “They told (people) to move from the north to Khan Younis, because the south is safer. And now they bombed Khan Younis. Even Khan Younis is not safe now, and even if we move to Rafah, Rafah will be safe too. Not so” sure. Where do they want us to go?”

About 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes as Israel’s bombing campaign has destroyed much of the busy coastal strip. Medical authorities in the enclave say the attacks killed more than 15,500 people, with thousands more missing and believed buried under the rubble.

Israel launched its attack to wipe out Hamas fighters, who hold power in Gaza, in retaliation for an October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages, according to Israeli data.

Israeli forces captured much of the northern half of Gaza in November and, after a week-long truce ended on Friday, are advancing rapidly into the southern half.

Source: Terra

Rose

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