ISTANBUL

The Israeli army issued an evacuation order for the residents of Gaza City to the south on Wednesday.

Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee ordered civilians located in nine residential blocks in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood to leave the area and head south toward al-Mawasi as “the Israeli army continues to intensify operations westward.”

The Al-Mawasi zone in Khan Younis, repeatedly designated by the Israeli army as a “safe zone,” has become severely overcrowded, with tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in dire humanitarian conditions.

Despite being labeled a “safe zone,” al-Mawasi has been bombed multiple times over the course of the war, with Israeli airstrikes killing hundreds of civilians sheltering there.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children. Israel’s military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.