An Israeli order giving more than 1 million Palestinians just 24 hours to evacuate to southern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion has pushed its people “into the abyss” with the enclave as a whole swiftly becoming a “hellhole”, the UN has said.
Thousands have been forced to flee their homes but have nowhere to turn, while Israel’s military said troops had conducted “localised raids” inside Gaza.
Ahmed, a young man in the north of Gaza, said families were fleeing south in a panic after the order was released – a message they received on their phones.
“People are panicked moving from one area to another. They don’t know where to go,” he said, adding that he had lost contact with his father and brothers in the confusion. He asked for his full name and exact location not to be released for his safety.
“I can see them holding their belongings and fleeing since last night. I asked them where they are going; they told me ‘We don’t know – to UN schools [where people have been sheltering], relatives’ home, anywhere in the south.’”
Last weekend, militants from the ruling Hamas party stormed across the border into Israel from Gaza, killing more than 1,300 people and taking dozens of hostages in an act of terror. Israel has retaliated with a near-constant bombardment of Gaza, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of buildings.
On Friday evening, Hamas said that 70 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in strikes while trying to head south.
Palestinian families flee following the Israeli army’s warning to leave their homes— (AFP)
Israel denies targeting civilians. It has defended the evacuation order. “We are controlling our attacks in order to provide them a safe way [out],” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said earlier in the day. “But it is a war zone,” he added. Areas in the south, including Khan Younis and Rafah, have been pounded by Israeli aircraft in recent days.
Ahmed, in Gaza, said that he had “heard of a family who were targeted in a strike and injured while moving to the south”.
“Many have been killed and injured while driving south, it’s not even safe to evacuate,” he added.
UN officials warned that the movement of an estimated 1.1 million people from the northern part of Gaza to the south – half the population of the Strip – was “impossible” and would spark a “bone-chilling” humanitarian crisis. They have “strongly” appealed to Israel to rescind the order.
“The call from the Israeli forces to move more than 1 million civilians living in northern Gaza within 24 hours is horrendous. This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into the abyss,” the United Nation’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said shortly after the order was given.
“The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse,” the statement added.
Israeli army armoured personnel carriers along the border with the Gaza Strip— (AFP)
Messages from Hamas urged residents to stay put to “hold on to your homes and land”.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, vowed in televised remarks late on Friday to “eradicate” Hamas and said that the counteroffensive in Gaza “is just the beginning”. He added that Israel was striking at its enemies “with unprecedented might”.
The expected ground invasion will lead to a surge in casualties, with more than 1,900 people having already been killed in Gaza since airstrikes began, with more than 6,000 injured. The death toll includes 614 children and 370 women, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
UNRWA also said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma.
The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has been in constant contact with Israeli authorities, urging them to “avert a humanitarian catastrophe”, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
“The entire territory faces a water crisis. There is no electricity. Our UN staff and our partners are working around the clock to support people in Gaza,” he said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has said the evacuation will only add to the death toll, telling The Independent it has no means of evacuating the wounded to the south, as all hospitals across the strip are full, and the most critical cases will die en route.
Dozens of buildings have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes— (Getty)
Gaza’s deputy health minister Yusuf Abu al-Reesh told The Independent an evacuation of the wounded in the north “was completely impossible”.
“There are no extra beds in any hospitals anywhere for people to be transferred to. Also most of the cases of the injured are unstable – they will die en route,” Dr Abu al-Reesh said from Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, which is at 150 per cent capacity.
“All the hospitals everywhere in Gaza, even after they have been expanded, are full of patients.”
When asked by The Independent about medical facilities, as an evacuation of the wounded would be near impossible, Rear Adm Hagari said. “We will do our best not to hit a hospital.”
Some in north Gaza have said they will not evacuate. Haytham Harara told The Independent the whole of Gaza City was ordered to evacuate, but he and his family are resolved to stay. “I won’t leave my land,” he said.
Haytham Harara said he and his family will not leave their land— (Haytham Harara)
“No place in Gaza is safe now. Bombing is everywhere around us. We hear nothing except for the sound of warplanes, massive bombings, and the sirens of ambulances. It is like we are waiting until our turn comes.
“The Palestinians have been suffering one of the most cruel occupations of all time. Why can we not hear the world calling to us?”
In the wake of the Hamas attack Israel also announced a “total siege” of the 42km-long (26 miles) enclave, cutting off water, electricity, food and fuel in a move rights groups have said amounts to collective punishment and a violation of international law.
The World Health Organisation has since warned that the healthcare system is “at breaking point” as Palestinian medics said they had just a few days left of supplies.
Supplies were already low and half the essential medicine list was missing before the recent escalation: Gaza has been subjected to a 16-year blockade by Israel since Hamas siezed control in 2007.
Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank. Demonstrators supporting Gaza fought gun battles with Israeli security forces. Palestinian officials said 11 people were shot dead. Palestinians have said they fear the violence will continue.
Women and children evacuate Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations— (EPA)
“The world needs to understand that this started long before this weekend,” said Hassan, 45, outside of Damascus Gate next to the Old City. “What has happened is the result of a blockade on Gaza, of decades of occupation. This is the reason for the violence. It is a global shame.”
There have also been fears of hostilities spreading to new fronts, including Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where clashes this week have already been the deadliest since 2006.
An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured.
“We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed,” the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal.
Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area.
Al Jazeera said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were also among the wounded. Agence France-Presse said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names.
