THE Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of new areas of northern Gaza, setting off a fresh wave of civilian displacements yesterday as intense airstrikes continued across much of the territory.
The Israel Defense Forces said the orders for the Shujaiya neighbourhood were issued after Palestinian militants fired rockets at Israel on Saturday from a location within the densely populated district. Hamas’s armed wing said it had targeted an army base over the border.
The IDF routinely circulates warnings through social media, pamphlets and phone calls, telling people to leave areas that will be attacked. “For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the south,” IDF said.
Families living in the targeted areas began fleeing their homes after nightfall on Saturday and into yesterday at early hours, witnesses and local media said. Images on social media showed hundreds leaving Shujaiya on donkey carts and rickshaws, with others, including children carrying backpacks, walking.
Elsewhere in north Gaza, health officials said an Israeli drone dropped bombs on Kamal Adwan hospital, injuring its director, Hussam Abu Safiya.
According to the Local media, the health ministry in Gaza yesterday, Abu Safiya said from his hospital bed: “This will not stop us from completing our humanitarian mission and we will continue to do this job at any cost.
“We are being targeted daily. They targeted me a while ago but this will not deter us.”
Israeli forces say armed militants use civilian buildings including housing blocks, hospitals and schools as shields. Hamas denies this, accusing Israeli forces of indiscriminately targeting populated areas.
Kamal Adwan is one of three hospitals in north Gaza that are barely operational. Aid agencies and local health officials say the Israeli forces have detained and expelled medical staff and prevented emergency medical, food and fuel supplies from reaching them.
Israel denies the charge, and says it has facilitated the delivery of medical and fuel supplies as well as the transfer of patients from north Gaza hospitals in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
