THE Israeli occupation army intensified its attacks on homes, civilian targets and shelter centres in different areas of Gaza yesterday, killing and injuring dozens of citizens.
Eight civilians were killed and over 20 injured in Israeli airstrikes around schools in Beita Lahia in northern Gaza as the Israeli army’s large-scale genocidal campaign in northern Gaza entered day 60.
An Israeli warplane targeted a group of citizens near the junction of Kanaan in Beit Lahia, killing three of them, while in central Gaza a warplane targeted an apartment belonging to the Abu Qasimiya family near al-Banna bakery in Deir al-Balah, injuring five people.
The Israeli army ordered residents in the districts of Khan Younis to flee, prompting a westward exodus in the early morning hours.
‘For your own safety, you must evacuate the area immediately and move to the humanitarian zone,’ the army said a statement on X, citing rocket launches by Palestinian groups.
However, there are no ‘humanitarian zones’ in which people can find safety, and forced evacuation orders do not help those fleeing to find safety or shelter from harm, the Action For Humanity non-government organisation stated.
The use of these terms by Israel is aimed at bestowing legitimacy on forced displacement and creating the illusion of adherence to humanitarian law, it said.
Palestinian and United Nations officials also say that there are no safe areas in Gaza.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been internally displaced, some as many as 10 times since the war began last year.
Palestinian groups accuse Israel’s army of trying to drive people from the northern edge of Gaza with forced evacuations and bombardments.
The Palestinian Civil Defence said its operations in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon have been halted for nearly four weeks due to Israeli attacks on their teams and fuel shortages.
Yesterday it said 88 of its members had been killed, 304 wounded and 21 detained by Israel since the war started, while 13 of 27 vehicles in the central and southern Gaza Strip were out of operation due to fuel shortages.
