TEL AVIV/GAZA: Thousands of Palestinians have begun to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli military called for all civilians in the northern half of the besieged enclave to relocate south, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground assault.
The United Nations warned on Friday that the order demanding the relocation of 1.1 million people within 24 hours was “impossible” and could have devastating consequences.
The order, which comes on the seventh day of a war and total blockade declared by Israel following an unprecedented Hamas incursion and deadly attack, directs residents of Gaza City to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory that is home to about 2.3 million people.
Palestiniansinsouthernand central areas of the enclave, where people were expected to flee to, said air strikes had hit there overnight, with centralparts also hit on Friday morning. “No place is safe in the entireGazaStrip,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
According to Palestinian authorities, at least 1,799 people have been killed and more than 6,000 others wounded in Gaza since Israel launched a relentless bombardment of the territory on Saturday.
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said more than 400,000 peoplehad already been made homeless inGazaand 23 aid workers had been killed. “Mass displacement continues,” it said.
While thousands had fled after Israel’s evacuation order, there has not been a mass exodus as most people in Gaza City and in the north of the enclave appeared to have stayed put, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.
The Reuters news agency has also put out a report saying that by Friday afternoon, there were no signs of any mass exodus from the north of the enclave.
Gaza analyst Talal Okal described the Israeli relocation order as an “attempt to push the Palestinian people of Gaza into Nakba“.
“Like they did in 1948 when they pushed people out of historical Palestine by dropping barrels of explosives on their heads, today Israel is repeating this before the eyes of the world and live cameras,” Okal told Reuters.
Earlier on FridayIsrael's military ordered the evacuation of more than 1 million civilians from northernGazaamid preparations for a threatened ground offensive aimed at crushing the Hamas group that rules the Palestinian territory.
Hamas' military wing said that Israeli airstrikes on theGazaStrip have killed 13 people taken hostage when Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel by air, land and sea last weekend.
Israel has pounded the narrow, densely populated Palestinian coastal enclave with bombs and missiles since Hamas carried out massacres nearly a week ago.
Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said foreigners were among the 13 hostages killed in Israeli strikes, but did not specify their nationalities. There was no confirmation from the Israeli military.
Israel has said that about 100 to 150 hostages were taken. Several countries around the world have said their citizens are among them.
The Israeli military sent residents ofGazaCity a message telling them to evacuate "from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection," said Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus.
"This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return toGazaCity only when another announcement permitting it is made," Conricus said, explaining that Gazans were warned not to approach the security fence with Israel but rather just evacuate south within theGazaStrip.
International aid groups criticized the order, noting that people inGazahave few options to escape and that the evacuation could have devastating humanitarian consequences.
Israel has sealed the borders toGazafrom the east and north, leaving a tightly controlled border crossing with Egypt as the only way in and out of the strip.
A ground offensive by Israel could be imminent in theGazaStrip.
The Israeli military said Hamas fighters are hiding inGazain tunnels under houses and in buildings where innocent Gazan civilians are staying. Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
Dozens of fighter jets attacked 750 targets overnight, Israel's military said early Friday. It said the targets attacked included tunnels, military installations, residences of senior militants used as military command centres and weapons depots.
More than 2 million people live in poor conditions inGaza, a narrow strip that stretches for about 40 kilometres along the Mediterranean Sea.Gazais bordered by Israel to the north and east, and Egypt to the south.
Several high-profile officials visited Israel on Friday, including European CommissionPresident Ursula von der Leyen, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and USDefence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
USSecretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Israel on Thursday.
TheUNsaid its own staff had also been told to evacuate northernGaza, but demanded that Israel rethink the declaration.
"The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order to be rescinded, avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation," UN spokesman Rolando Gomez said in Geneva.
The World Health Organization added that is impossible to safely move seriously ill and badly injured people under current conditions.
TheUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East(UNRWA), meanwhile, said that Israel's total blockade ofGazaand constant airstrikes is turning the territory into a "hell hole."
"The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling.Gazais fast becoming a hell hole and is on the brink of collapse," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
