Israeli army orders evacuation in central Gaza Strip

ANKARA

The Israeli army issued fresh evacuation orders on Saturday for residents in several areas of the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee announced that residents of Blocks 2232-2240 in the Maghazi area and the neighborhoods of Salah El-Din, El-Farouk and El-Amal in central Gaza Strip are required to evacuate.

The army claims that these areas are “dangerous combat zones” due to alleged “Hamas operations.”

On Friday, the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for residents in several areas of central and southern Gaza Strip, which have been previously designated as “humanitarian safe zones.”

Previously, some of these areas, such as Al-Mawasi, had been designated as “humanitarian safe zones” for displaced Palestinians amid the ongoing Israeli offensive on Gaza.

According to the international humanitarian organization Oxfam, over 1.7 million displaced Palestinians are currently residing in the Al-Mawasi area and its surroundings, which constitutes less than one-fifth of Gaza's territory.

On Tuesday, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported that approximately 84% of Gaza's territory has been under evacuation orders since Oct. 7.

Israel's continued onslaught on Gaza has drawn international condemnation for violating a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

The ongoing war has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths and has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins, exacerbated by a severe blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi

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