GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL 

The Gaza Media Office said Friday that more than 1 million Palestinians, including over 350,000 children, remain in Gaza City and its northern areas, refusing to evacuate to the south of the enclave.

It added that Israel has forced more than 800,000 people into the al-Mawasi area, which lacks basic means of life.

In a statement, the office stressed that Palestinians’ refusal to leave for the south comes “despite the continuation of the barbaric aggression and genocide carried out by the Israeli occupation.” It said the offensive aims to “impose the crime of forced displacement.”

The office noted that Israel has previously declared that “displacement this time will be permanent, with no return to Gaza City and its northern areas, which constitutes a crime in violation of all international laws.”

“We affirm that more than one million Palestinians, including over 350,000 children, remain in Gaza City and the north, steadfast in their land, homes, and properties, and rejecting outright the scheme of forced displacement to the south,” it said.

It added that monitoring teams have observed “a reverse displacement from the south back to Gaza City and its northern areas after displaced people found the south lacking even the minimum essentials for survival.”

According to the office, about 68,000 people were forced to move south under bombardment, mass killings and threats, but more than 20,000 had returned to their original areas by Thursday after finding that the south lacked basic living conditions.

The statement said Gaza City and its northern areas have a combined population of more than 1.3 million, about 398,000 in northern Gaza and 914,000 in Gaza City. Nearly 300,000 residents have been displaced from eastern neighborhoods toward central and western parts of the city.

The office stressed that al-Mawasi in Khan Younis and Rafah, where Israel forced 800,000 people and “falsely claimed it was humanitarian and safe,” has been bombed more than 109 times, causing more than 2,000 deaths.

It underlined that the area lacks “real hospitals, infrastructure, or basic services such as tents, shelter, water, food, electricity, and education.” It noted that the designated shelter zones amount to less than 12% of the enclave’s total area, condemning Israel’s attempt to cram more than 1.7 million people into it.

The Gaza Media Office urged the international community, the UN and relevant courts to “act urgently to stop these crimes, hold occupation leaders accountable, and guarantee the right of Palestinian civilians to remain on their land in safety and dignity.”

On Aug. 8, Israel approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gradually occupy Gaza, starting with displacing Palestinians from Gaza City to the south, followed by encircling the city and launching further incursions into residential areas, according to Israel’s public broadcaster.

At the outset of the plan, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled from the city’s southern, eastern and northern neighborhoods to its western and central parts, which soon also came under heavy Israeli bombardment.

Despite the attacks, most Palestinians continue to move within Gaza City, from areas under imminent threat of destruction to relatively less targeted neighborhoods, firmly refusing to leave the city.

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza, killing more than 64,700 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.