Palestinians are trying to flee the Gaza Strip targeted by the Israeli military as they struggle with a growing water crisis as Israel cuts off the flow of resources to the region ahead of an expected ground offensive a week ahead of a massive Hamas attack on Israel, reports Breaking News.
Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped in the air for Gazans to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay indoors.
The United Nations and aid groups say such rapid departures would cause untold humanitarian suffering for hospital patients, the elderly and others unable to relocate.
The evacuation directive covers an area of 1.1 million inhabitants, about half of the region’s population, reports Breaking News.
The Israeli military said “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians had already heeded the warning and moved south.
It said that between 10am and 4pm local time, Palestinians would be able to travel between the Gaza Strip without injury on two main routes.
Juliet Toma, spokeswoman for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, said it was unclear as of Saturday afternoon how many Palestinians remained in northern Gaza.
“What we know is that hundreds of thousands of people have fled. And that one million people have been displaced in total in one week,” she said, reports Breaking News.
Thousands of people are trapped in a UN-run school-shelter in Deir al-Balah, an agricultural town south of the evacuation zone. Many slept outside, on the ground, without mattresses or on chairs taken from classrooms.
“I came here with my children. We slept on the ground. We don’t have a mattress, or clothes,” said Howeida al-Zaaneen, 63, who is from the northern town of Beit Hanoun. “I want to go back to my home, even if it is destroyed,” reports Breaking News.
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