Israel orders series of evacuations across Gaza, firing at Palestinians fleeing on foot

The Israeli military ordered the mass evacuation of Palestinians from a large area of western Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday morning, as well as from Khan Younis.

In a statement instructing people to leave their homes on foot immediately, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee called the area a “dangerous combat zone.”

Similar evacuation directives in recent days have ordered the forced displacement of Palestinians across Gaza’s northeast and south, with at least 65,000 displaced since Israel reignited its aggression on the strip last week, following a ceasefire that lasted just over 50 days. 

Residents whose homes fell within the latest evacuation zones told Mada Masr they were given little to no time to leave before Israeli shelling began, not even to gather their belongings, forcing them back into displacement after briefly returning to their homes during the short-lived and fragile ceasefire. Footage reviewed by Mada Masr showed hundreds of people leaving their homes and temporary shelters by foot on Sunday.

In western Rafah, the shelling began before the orders were issued. Eyewitness Mohamed al-Akhras told Mada Masr that Israeli military vehicles stormed the nearby neighborhoods of Tal al-Sultan and Hay al-Saudi, attacking homes with gunfire and artillery shells before ordering residents to leave. Thousands fled under fire, Akhras said, and dozens were wounded as they tried to escape.

Israeli forces instructed civilians to evacuate via Mirage Street — formerly known as Gush Katif — permitting only those on foot to leave while prohibiting movement by vehicle and targeting anyone attempting to leave via other streets. Drones monitored and shot people on the move, Akhras added.

The military also set up a military checkpoint and electronic gates separating Rafah from neighboring Khan Younis, where they conducted searches and a number of arrests. 

Many of those trying to evacuate their homes in Rafah were trapped by the heavy Israeli fire, including wounded individuals, another eyewitness, Majdi al-Lahawani, told Mada Masr.

Israeli tanks fired at ambulances attempting to reach those who were trapped while soldiers targeted anyone moving in the areas of Qedisiyya, Abu Atiya and Baraksat, west of Rafah, Lahawani said.

Israeli forces surrounded several ambulance crews in the Hashashin area of western Rafah as they were seeking to reach a number of wounded civilians, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society also said on Sunday, adding that it was unable to reach the besieged crews for hours.

Civil defense teams attempted to rescue one of the ambulance crews in the Baraksar area, but also lost contact with them, Gaza’s civil defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told Mada Masr. The fate of six civil defense personnel remains unknown.

Bassal noted that the situation has repeated itself several times over recent days, with the civil defense agency responding to distress calls from displaced individuals reporting bodies or the wounded lying on the streets and sidewalks, only for the rescue teams to be targeted by Israeli forces while attempting to reach the scene.

In Khan Younis, southeastern Gaza, the Israeli military air-dropped leaflets in Bani Suheila, ordering people to evacuate westward to the coastal Mawasi area and warning that those who remain will face death, Nader Taha told Mada Masr.

Taha fled his home two days ago to western Khan Younis as Israeli tanks advanced into his neighborhood under heavy fire, but many others refused to evacuate and remained, their fate still unknown, he said.

A similar situation has been unfolding in the north. In Beit Hanoun, Israeli forces ordered civilians to immediately leave their homes before advancing hundreds of meters into the town under heavy gunfire and shelling. The Israeli military had previously ordered Beit Hanoun’s residents to evacuate on the first day of the resumption of its military operations.

Shortly after dropping the leaflets, heavy artillery shelling began, forcing civilians to evacuate, Samer Abu Herbeid told Mada Masr.

Many were forced to evacuate the area without taking any belongings with them, he said, while dozens were injured by the heavy gunfire and shelling as they fled. Most displaced individuals moved south in search of shelter, toward Gaza City, but Abu Herbeid stressed that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip.

The new wave of displacement is set to worsen already dire humanitarian conditions in the strip, which has been under a full Israeli blockade of food, water and fuel for over 20 days.

“It’s been three weeks since Israeli authorities banned the entry of supplies to Gaza,” Philip Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Sunday, noting that this siege is “longer than what was in place in the first phase of the war.”