Palestinians 'have no safe place to go' as Israel demands more mass evacuations

As reported here, Israel has been renewing its demands for mass evacuations in Gaza, this morning telling people in the southern town of Khan Younis - where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks - to leave immediately.

Airstrikes and the ground offensive have transformed much of the north, including large areas in Gaza City, into a rubble-filled wasteland.

This has left around two million people now crowded into the 90 square miles that make up Gaza's south, where Israel's focus is starting to shift.

However, as Israel calls for more areas to be evacuated, it is unclear where people can go. Shelters are already overwhelmed, and both Israel and neighbouring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees.

Airstrikes and explosions were reported in and around Khan Younis overnight after the military dropped leaflets warning people to relocate farther south toward the border with Egypt. The military has ordered the evacuation of nearly two dozen neighbourhoods in and around the town.

Later in the day, the military warned civilians to avoid the main north-south highway between Khan Younis and the central town of Deir al-Balah, saying the road had become a "battlefield" and was "extremely dangerous." That indicated Israeli troops were approaching Khan Younis from the northeast, possibly with plans to cut central Gaza off from the south.

Al Jazeera television broadcast footage of medics rescuing people wounded by what appeared to have been a strike on a car on that stretch of highway. An Israeli tank could be seen just up the road.

Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said the army was pursuing Hamas with "maximum force" in the north and south, and said it was trying to minimize harm to civilians.

He pointed to a map that divides southern Gaza into dozens of blocks in order to give "precise instructions" to residents on where to evacuate.

Many Palestinians, however, have ignored past evacuation orders, saying they do not feel any safer in the areas where they are told to seek refuge - which have also been repeatedly bombed. The military has, meanwhile, barred those who fled the north from returning, even during the ceasefire.

"The level of human suffering is intolerable," Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said during a rare visit to Gaza.

"It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible."

She also called for the immediate release of scores of hostages captured by Palestinian militants during the 7 October attack.