![](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/YOOuJQK08BXT0HRalYi5B5qqOW4=/0x405:3897x2597/media/img/mt/2023/10/AP23286378310858/original.jpg)
The Israeli military has renewed its call for civilians to evacuate northern Gaza as troops gather on the border in preparation for a widely anticipated ground invasion. The region is home to some 1.1 million people, and the United Nations has warned that the evacuation order—foreshadowing further retaliation for the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,300 people in Israel—will have “devastating” consequences. Hundreds of thousands of people have already left their homes, while medical workers caring for an influx of patients injured in earlier Israeli air strikes have called the evacuation order “impossible.”
![Picture of Palestinians carrying their belongings fleeing to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/GettyImages_1721852855/9d50e5e80.jpg)
![Picture of Palestinians fleeing from their homes following the Israeli army's warning to evacuate Gaza City](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/GettyImages_1722722051/ecff65e10.jpg)
![Picture of Palestinian families evacuating their homes in Gaza City](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/GettyImages_1721980515/737ad8503.jpg)
![Picture of a boy carrying a mattress as Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/GettyImages_1721843295/b157f4c20.jpg)
![Picture of Palestinians fleeing from northern Gaza to the south.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/AP23286660688834/6af8e6087.jpg)
![Picture of Palestinians fleeing from Gaza City to southern Gaza after being told to leave their homes in the north by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, Gaza.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/GettyImages_1724139325/aba83c125.jpg)
![Picture of Palestinian families evacuating their homes in Gaza City](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/GettyImages_1723110395/ed4f2fd5d.jpg)
![Picture of Palestinians fleeing from northern Gaza to the south.](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2023/10/AP23286684066007/5f946f8ed.jpg)