Israel urges Gaza City residents to move to ‘humanitarian zone’

Israel's army on Saturday (September 6) urged Palestinians in Gaza City to move to a "humanitarian area" it designated in the south as it expanded its operations in preparation to capture the city.

Many Palestinians, despite repeated warnings from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said that they would not leave the city. Humanitarian organisations warned that the announcement and displacement of Gaza residents would further deepen the famine and make the situation worse.

Israel's army expanded its operations in preparation for seizing the city, including targeting high-rise buildings. Parts of the city, home to nearly 1 million people, were already considered "red zones", where evacuation orders have been issued ahead of the expected offensive.

Aid groups had repeatedly warned that a large-scale evacuation of Gaza City would exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation, after the world's leading authority on food crises declared the city to be gripped by famine. Palestinians have been uprooted and displaced multiple times during the nearly two-year-long war, with many being too weak to move and having nowhere to go.

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Residents urged to travel in cars

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X that the army declared Muwasi — a makeshift tent camp in the southern Gaza Strip — a humanitarian area and urged everyone in the city, which it called a Hamas stronghold and specified as a combat zone, to leave.

The army said they could travel in cars down a designated road without being searched.

The military, in a statement, provided a map showing the area in Khan Younis where the humanitarian area encompassed, which included the block where Nasser Hospital is located.

The area around the hospital has been considered a red zone, though not the medical facility itself. Last week, Israel struck the hospital, killing 22 people, including Mariam Dagga, who worked for The Associated Press and other media outlets. The hospital was not under evacuation.

The designated safe zone included field hospitals, water pipelines, food and tents, and relief efforts "will continue on an ongoing basis in cooperation with the UN and international organisations," the statement said.

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Israel unilaterally created 'humanitarian zone': UN

The declaration of a so-called "humanitarian zone" in southern Gaza was done by the Israeli authorities unilaterally, and the United Nations (UN) and the wider humanitarian community are not part of that designation, said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Israeli forces had struck such humanitarian areas throughout the war, including Muwasi, which they previously declared a safe zone, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Israel on Saturday issued warnings for two high-rises in Gaza City and the tents around them, saying Hamas had infrastructure inside or near them. The warning came a day after Israel struck another high-rise building in Gaza City, saying Hamas used it for surveillance, without providing evidence.

Despite Israel's warnings, many Palestinians in Gaza City said that they would not leave.

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Palestinians worried

"They only order us to leave from one town to another? What are we going to do with our children? Those who have an ill person, or an elderly or a wounded, where are we going to take them?" said a woman who identified herself as Um Haitham.

Israel's offensive had also sparked widespread protests among Israelis who fear it would endanger hostages still held in Gaza, some of whom were believed to be in Gaza City.

There were 48 such hostages, 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive. Hamas released a propaganda video on Friday of two hostages in Gaza City. The video showed Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a car, at one point joined by another hostage, Alon Ohel.

Families of the hostages said the government did not prioritise their loved ones, with most looking to US President Donald Trump to get the captives out.

On Saturday, families of the hostages thanked US President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff for their "unwavering determination, courage and compassion" in advancing ceasefire negotiations.

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Israel is determined to eliminate Hamas

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement saying Trump demonstrated that “true leadership is measured by bold decisions.”

A lasting ceasefire had so far been elusive. Last month, Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire. Israel had not yet responded and said it was still committed to defeating the militant group.

Israel said the war would continue until all the hostages had returned and Hamas was disarmed, and that it would retain open-ended security control of the territory of some 2 million Palestinians. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The war started after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 people in their attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Most of them have been released in a ceasefire or other agreements.

Israel's retaliatory offensive had killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which did not say how many were civilians or combatants but said women and children made up around half the dead. The UN and independent experts considered it to be the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel had disputed its figures but had not provided its own.

(With agency inputs)