The Israeli army has ordered all Palestinians to leave Gaza City and head south, as it continues a new offensive in the north, south and central Gaza Strip that has killed dozens of people in the past 48 hours.
Leaflets dropped on Wednesday urged “everyone in Gaza City” to leave and take “safe routes” south towards Deir el-Balah and az-Zawayda.
The Gaza Interior Ministry called on Gaza City residents to refrain from following Israeli evacuation orders, saying the instructions are part of the Israeli military’s psychological warfare against the Palestinians.
The United Nations said the latest evacuations “will only increase the suffering of Palestinian families, many of whom have been repeatedly displaced.”
“Civilians must be protected,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Reporting from Deir el Balah, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hind Khoudary said Palestinians in Gaza City, where Israeli attacks have intensified, felt trapped and did not know where to go.
“I also want to remind you that there are no civil defense teams, no Red Cross. No one is there to evacuate these Palestinians,” she added.
Israel issued the first official evacuation order for part of the city on June 27, followed by two more in the following days.
The government says it is pursuing Hamas fighters who have been regrouping in different parts of Gaza for the past nine months. The ground offensive began in the Shujayea neighborhood in the east of the city, but this week tanks have also advanced into central and western neighborhoods, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee south.
Israel intensifies attacks in Gaza
The latest evacuation order comes a day after an Israeli airstrike on al-Awdah school killed at least 30 people and wounded 53 others, mostly women and children, Palestinian medics said.
Exclusive footage from the school, obtained by Tel Aviv Tribune, shows young Palestinians playing football outside the school as dozens of people look on. Then a loud explosion rings out, forcing people to run for cover.
A young Palestinian man told Tel Aviv Tribune that he lost several family members in the attack. “We were sitting and a missile fell and destroyed everything,” he said, sobbing. “I lost my uncle, my cousins and my family.”
The attack was condemned by world leaders and the Israeli military said it was investigating.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on X that two-thirds of the schools it runs in the Gaza Strip, which have been serving as shelters for displaced Palestinians since the start of the war, have been hit, killing 524 people.
“UN structures, schools and shelters are not a target,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military also said it attacked fighters inside the UNRWA headquarters.
During a visit to central Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said forces were operating in different ways, in different parts of the territory, “to carry out a very important mission: to exert pressure.”
“We will continue our operations to repatriate the hostages,” Halevi said.
At least 38,295 people have been killed and 88,241 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October, according to Palestinian officials. Gaza’s health ministry said Wednesday that 52 Palestinians were killed and 208 wounded in the past 24 hours.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune tally based on Israeli statistics, and taking about 250 others as hostages, dozens of whom remain in captivity in Gaza.
Progress in ceasefire negotiations?
The escalation of Israeli military activity comes as American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks aimed at reaching a long-elusive ceasefire deal and an exchange of captives held by Hamas for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Hamas officials have expressed concern that heavy Israeli strikes across the territory in recent days could derail the negotiations.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Monday that the escalation of Israeli attacks threatened negotiations at a crucial moment and could send the talks “back to square one.”
Hamas, however, wants international mediators to ensure that the Doha talks result in a permanent ceasefire. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not accept any deal that requires Israel to end its campaign in Gaza without eliminating Hamas.
