The Israeli military expanded its evacuation order to the entire city of Gaza on Wednesday (10), after sending tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing several neighborhoods of the city earlier this week.
The Israel Defense Forces also issued a notice saying it will suspend inspections along two roads in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, to allow civilians to reach humanitarian zones more easily and quickly, as the city “will continue to be a dangerous combat zone.”
“We announce to you that Tariq Bin Ziyad and Omar Al-Mukhtar Streets are considered safe passages to cross westward to Al-Rashid (Al-Bahr) Street and from there to the south. Al-Wahda and Khalil Al-Wazir Streets are considered safe passages to cross eastward to Al-Zaytoun neighborhood and the city’s roundabout, and from there to Salah Al-Din Street to the south,” reads an IDF leaflet dropped by planes in the city.
Gaza City came under bombardment overnight on Wednesday. A local journalist said to CNN that the building where he was sheltering was hit, forcing him to move with his family once again.
Bakeries ‘completely closed’
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told CNN who was aware of dozens of deaths in the industrial zone east of Gaza City and in the financial hub downtown.
Bassal added that several Palestinians are besieged at the Jordanian hospital and Al-Aqsa University in the city as the situation remains dangerous.
“Today, all of a sudden, all the bakeries in Gaza are completely closed. It seems that there are instructions for them to do so or fall into the red zone,” he added.
The charity group Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday it had been forced to close its last health facility in northern Gaza following Israel’s evacuation order.
“The teams continued to provide care to patients until the last minute, before fleeing the area which was under heavy fire,” MSF said on X.
Residents could be seen walking along Salah Al-Din Street from northern Gaza with their belongings. Some held flags made of sticks and wore white shirts.
Baraa, a young man pushing a bicycle, said he was alone with his brother in northern Gaza, but “the situation has become very difficult, there is no food.”
A woman from Shajaiya, one of Gaza City’s largest neighborhoods, said the area had been the target of persistent shelling, adding that she had seen many people killed in the streets.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that the directive for residents to leave Gaza City threatened to intensify the plight of already displaced communities.
The IDF has been issuing evacuation orders affecting large parts of Gaza City since Sunday, urging 250,000 residents to head to “safe zones” further south in Deir al-Balah and al-Zawaida.
The IDF said the evacuation orders were necessary so that civilians would not be caught up in its renewed operations in areas where Hamas is seeking to reestablish its presence. The IDF insists it will go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
Hamas said the forced displacements threatened to bring negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage settlement to “square one.”
“Every day they told us to leave and we were moved from one place to another while drones were shooting at us,” Mahmoud Al Shaqra, a resident of Gaza City, told CNN while evacuating south.
“Gaza City is completely destroyed, it is uninhabitable,” Al Sharqa said. “There is no food, drink or anything here. There is no security.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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