Deir al Balah: 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.
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.