The Israeli army issued new discharge orders for neighborhoods in Gaza on Friday as it is pushing forward with its attack on the Gaza war strip, once again providing a painful choice to the Palestinians to stay or go.
Orders are aimed at the eastern city of Gaza, including several sections that the army had declared the evacuation zones last week. The move suggested that some people had remained in their homes, even after the urging of the Israeli army to leave.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in March, Israel has issued a succession of discharge orders throughout Gaza as it is going to create what it calls “seat belt” and aims at Hamas. The commands have left many Palestinians to discuss whether they will remain in their neighborhoods despite the risk or permission despite the miserable displacement conditions.
While the United Nations said 390,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks, the exact number of people who remain in discharge zones was unclear.
“We don’t want to leave,” said Ahmad Al-Masri, 26, a Beit Lahia resident in northern Gaza, who has rejected evacuation orders for his city. “Where are we going? It’s so tiring. “
In some parts of Gaza, the army has issued evacuation orders and later invaded the ground. In other areas, it has set discharge orders, but has not sent to the infantry. At least some Palestinians who have ignored the evacuation orders said they would leave if the Israeli tanks move to their neighborhoods.
“I have to do with reality on the ground,” said Al-Masri.
As the ceasefire broke, the Israeli army has begun a major bombardment campaign and occupied the territory in a tactic that Israeli officials said they were intended to force Hamas to release more.
The army said his recent campaign had disassembled the weapons infrastructure and killed fighters. On Thursday, the Israeli army said he had killed a Hamas commander in the Shajaiye neighborhood of the city of Gaza a day earlier, who had participated on October 7, 2023, an attack on Israel. Palestinian political defense, an emergency rescue service within the Hamas Interior Ministry, said 23 people had been killed in strikes in Shajaiye on Wednesday, without distinguishing citizens and fighters.
“Israel Defense is acting with great force in your areas to destroy the terrorist infrastructure,” said Avicay Adraee, a spokesman for the Arabic language army, announcing evacuation orders for the eastern city of Gaza.
The Israeli attack included evacuation orders that include about half of the territory, according to an analysis by the New York Times of the Israeli military maps. Satellite images also show that the Israeli army took over Rafah, with the forces closing in the southernmost city in Gaza in two directions.
More than 1,500 people in Gaza have been killed since the ceasefire fell and more than 50,000 people have been killed by the start of the war, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry also does not differentiate citizens and fighters in its accident measurements. Doctors in the hospitals said many of the injured and killed in recent weeks were children.
