Israel orders evacuations in central Gaza as ceasefire talks stall and military offensive widens
The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave.
The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, though negotiations have been stalled for months.
The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is also where many international organizations attempting to distribute aid are located. The organizations did not immediately comment on the evacuation warnings.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that the military will attack 'with intensity' against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone.
Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
Israel's military offensive that followed has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't say how many militants are among the dead but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents many of the families of hostages, condemned the evacuation announcement and demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military explain what they hope to accomplish in the area of central Gaza, accusing Israel of operating without a clear war plan.
'Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,' the forum said. On Saturday night, during the weekly protest, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tel Aviv, demonstrating for an end to the war.
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Israel Poised to Assault Last Gaza Town
CC-Transcript 00:00How significant is it that Israel are pushing into David Bella? Well, to judge from Adam Bella's comments that you just add kinetic action, which is code for military strikes, is imminent in this town that Israel had skirted previously during this more than 21 month old war. The reason for that skirting, we're told, is that the Israelis and some Palestinians believe that in this town of held hostages, a group of hostages, potentially a large number of them hostages that Israel wants to get out alive through negotiations or possibly through a military rescue. It now appears the Israelis are signaling that they're willing to take this town in order to continue pressure on Hamas, to continue the conquest of the Gaza Strip, even potentially if there's a risk to those hostages. The question is whether this will be borne out on the ground with actual troop advances or whether this is an effort to generate more pressure on Hamas in those talks being hosted by Qatar to capitulate, to yield to the issue of hostages rather than see more death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. What are the main sticking points this time around? Because there was renewed hope, especially after the Iran Israel 12 day war, that some progress could be made. And indeed, we know, as you said, that negotiators were sent to to continue along with those ceasefire discussions. What are the sticking points this time around on the sticking points this time around? The sticking points we've seen before, except right now we have the rubber hitting the road in terms of us really being the last batch of hostages, 50 hostages down from the 250 taken by Hamas on October seven, 2023, that attack which triggered this ongoing war, whereas in previous cease fire talks, Hamas may have felt it could give up. And I'm putting those in quote marks. It could give up some of those hostages for the short term gains of a cease fire. Now, Hamas realizes that these truce talks are not just instrumental, they're existential for Hamas. Israel says that a truce, if it leads to a open ended end to the war, must also see the end of Hamas rule and the end of the Hamas arsenal in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is not willing to accommodate that. So the question is whether the sides can pull off another cease fire, which would not necessarily lead to an end to the war when they remain far apart on what an end to the war would look like. That, yet again, is keeping the sides apart, despite the optimistic remarks we heard just then from the Trump administration, which really would like to see this war in its rear window.
