Israel has been renewing its demands for mass evacuations in Gaza,as palestinians have no safe place to go.
According to a report, people in the southern town of Khan Younis – where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks were ask to leave immediately.
Airstrikes and the ground offensive have transformed much of the north, including large areas in Gaza City, into a rubble-filled wasteland.
This has left around two million people now crowded into the 90 square miles that make up Gaza’s south, where Israel’s focus is starting to shift.
However, as Israel calls for more areas to be evacuated, it is unclear where people can go. Shelters are already overwhelmed, and both Israel and neighbouring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees.
Airstrikes and explosions were reported in and around Khan Younis overnight after the military dropped leaflets warning people to relocate farther south toward the border with Egypt. The military has ordered the evacuation of nearly two dozen neighbourhoods in and around the town.
Later in the day, the military warned civilians to avoid the main north-south highway between Khan Younis and the central town of Deir al-Balah, saying the road had become a “battlefield” and was “extremely dangerous.” That indicated Israeli troops were approaching Khan Younis from the northeast, possibly with plans to cut central Gaza off from the south.
The Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said the army was pursuing Hamas with “maximum force” in the north and south, and said it was trying to minimize harm to civilians.
He pointed to a map that divides southern Gaza into dozens of blocks in order to give “precise instructions” to residents on where to evacuate.
Many Palestinians, however, have ignored past evacuation orders, saying they do not feel any safer in the areas where they are told to seek refuge – which have also been repeatedly bombed. The military has, meanwhile, barred those who fled the north from returning, even during the ceasefire.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric said during a rare visit to Gaza that the level of human suffering is intolerable.
According to her, “It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible.”
She also called for the immediate release of scores of hostages captured by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack.