Israel Is Booting out the Palestinians From Gaza City

Israel’s military on Saturday urged residents of Gaza City to evacuate southward to a designated “humanitarian area” as it intensified operations in the densely populated, famine-stricken city. The move comes as the Israeli army prepares for a broader offensive, including airstrikes targeting high-rise buildings.

Gaza City, home to nearly one million people, has seen parts of it declared “red zones” where evacuation orders have already been issued. Aid organizations have warned that a mass exodus from the city could further deepen the humanitarian catastrophe. The region’s most prominent food security authority has formally declared that Gaza City is experiencing famine. Many Palestinians, already displaced multiple times throughout the nearly two-year war, say they are too weak to move or have nowhere left to go.

An Israeli military spokesperson posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the army had designated Al-Mawasi—a tent camp in southern Gaza—as a humanitarian zone and encouraged civilians to flee there. The army described Gaza City as a Hamas stronghold and an active combat zone, saying civilians could evacuate by car along a designated route without being stopped for searches.

According to the statement, the designated safe area would include tents, food, water infrastructure, and field hospitals, with humanitarian aid to be coordinated with the UN and international organizations. However, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Olga Cherevko, clarified that the UN and the broader aid community had not been involved in establishing this zone. Israeli forces have previously targeted areas they had declared safe, including Al-Mawasi, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.

On Saturday, the Israeli military issued warnings for two high-rise buildings and nearby tents in Gaza City, alleging Hamas infrastructure was located in or near them. A day earlier, another high-rise in the city was struck, which Israel claimed was used by Hamas for surveillance—though no evidence was publicly provided.

Despite the warnings, many Gaza City residents say they cannot leave. “They keep ordering us to move from one town to another. What are we supposed to do with our children? And the elderly, the sick, the wounded—where are we supposed to take them?” one woman told reporters.

The renewed military campaign has also sparked backlash inside Israel, where protests have erupted over concerns that the offensive could endanger hostages still held in Gaza. Israel believes 48 hostages remain in the territory, 20 of whom are thought to still be alive, some possibly located in Gaza City.

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