Israel has ordered an evacuation that now covers two-thirds of the Gaza Strip amid its ongoing war with the Hamas terror group, United Nations humanitarian monitors said Tuesday.
The new evacuation order covers approximately 95 square miles of the Palestinian territory, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Some 1.78 million Palestinians, or 77% of Gaza’s population, lived in the affected area before Israel’s war with Hamas. The ensuing conflict has left much of the territory unlivable.
The Israeli military said the evacuation order includes residential areas throughout the south as it continues to pursue Hamas targets, which it claims often operate within civilian sites.
According to OCHA, most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people now seek shelter in the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt and surrounding areas. Many of the Palestinians have been forced to live in makeshift tents without reliable sources of food or water.
Ahead of the Israeli military’s ground invasion into the territory, it initially ordered Palestinians to flee Northern Gaza. The instructions included telling them to travel south and to seek refuge at United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East facilities in the city of Khan Younis.
As Israel’s war with Hamas continued, the fighting moved toward the central and southern parts of the territory, prompting further evacuations where residents were initially told to take refuge.
Tens of thousands of people have fled and continue to flee from there, OCHA said.
ISRAEL ISSUES DETAILED THREAT TO HEZBOLLAH, IRAN AS GAZA WAR HITS 4 MONTHS
In recent weeks, the current focus of Israel’s ground offensive has moved to the southern cities, where Israeli aircraft have launched voluminous attacks. Israel continues to seek to eliminate Hamas’ rule in the territory and secure the safe release of its remaining hostages.
According to the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, the Palestinian death toll in the territory is more than 27,000. Health officials do not differentiate between combatants and civilians in the tally.
The war was triggered on Oct. 7, after Hamas led a deadly attack on unsuspecting border communities in southern Israel, leaving some 1,200 people dead. The terror group also took more than 200 hostages back into Gaza, where they are believed to have been escorted through a vast network system.
Both sides continue to negotiate a cease-fire that would include ending military operations and the safe release of hostages, as well as allowing much-needed humanitarian aid into the region.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has returned to the Middle East in his latest attempt to keep the region stable as the Israel-Hamas war has caused conflicts to spring up in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Jordan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
