DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s army called Saturday on Palestinians in Gaza City to move to a humanitarian area it designated in the south as it expanded its operations in preparation for seizing the famine-stricken city, including targeting high-rise buildings.
Parts of the city, home to nearly 1 million people, are already considered “red zones,” where evacuation orders have been issued ahead of the expected offensive.
Aid groups have 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.
Israeli army tells residents to move to a ‘humanitarian zone’
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in X that the army declared Muwasi — a makeshift tent camp in 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 that the humanitarian area encompasses, which includes 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 would include field hospitals, water pipelines, food and tents, and relief efforts “will continue on an ongoing basis in cooperation with the U.N. and international organizations,” the statement said.
The declaration of a so-called “humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza was done by the Israeli authorities unilaterally, and the U.N. and the wider humanitarian community are not part of that designation, said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In a statement Saturday, the U.N. said it is staying in Gaza City to provide aid and warned that the continued offensive will push people into an even deeper catastrophe. It said those who decide to move must have their essential needs met and must able to voluntarily return when the situation allows.
Israeli forces have 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. It comes a day after after Israel struck another high-rise building in Gaza City, saying Hamas used it for surveillance, without providing evidence.
Airstrikes also continued in Gaza City and the surrounding areas on Saturday. Officials at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said they received the bodies of 15 people, including a family of five whose apartment was struck in the Shati refugee camp on the edge of the city. Others were killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid near the Zikim crossing, said the officials.
Despite Israel’s warnings many Palestinians in Gaza City say they won’t leave. “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.
Families of hostages appeal to Trump
Israel’s offensive has also sparked widespread protests among Israelis who fear it will endanger hostages still held in Gaza, some of whom are believed to be in Gaza City. There are 48 such hostages, 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive. Hamas released a propaganda video Friday of two hostages in Gaza City. The video shows Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a car, at one point joined by another hostage, Alon Ohel.
Families of the hostages say the government isn’t prioritizing their loved ones, with most looking to U.S. President Donald Trump to get the captives out.
On Saturday, families of the hostages thanked Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff for their “unwavering determination, courage and compassion” in advancing ceasefire negotiations. The statement, released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said Trump demonstrates that “true leadership is measured by bold decisions.”
A lasting ceasefire has so far been elusive. Last month Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire. Israel has not yet responded and says it is still committed to defeating the group.
Israel says the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is disarmed, and that it will 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 fighters killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in their attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Most have since been released in ceasefires or other agreements.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
Mroue reported from Beirut.