Israeli army calls on residents of central Gaza Strip to head south

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Israeli army on Friday ordered Palestinians in central Gaza Strip to leave their homes and head south to the city of Deir al-Balah.

In a statement, Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said that the Israeli army “operates forcefully against Hamas and terrorist organizations.”

He ordered the residents of the Bureij refugee camp and the neighborhoods of Badr, the Northern Coast, Al-Nuzha, Al-Zahra, Al-Buraq, Al-Rawda, and Al-Safa in the areas south of the Gaza valley … to move immediately to the shelters in Deir Al-Balah.”

He also stated that the Israeli army “will allow humanitarian movement of civilians through the bypass axis located west of Khan Younis.”

According to an Anadolu correspondent, the Israeli army contacted Palestinian civilians by phone and asked them to evacuate their homes immediately towards Deir al-Balah.

There is no shelter in the city of Deir al-Balah, which is subjected daily to heavy bombardment by Israeli artillery and warplanes.

Deir al-Balah suffers from severe population overcrowding due to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing the war.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing at least 20,057 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 53,320 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity, according to official figures.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi