Israel forces 1.7 million Palestinians into 10% of Gaza’s territory amid new evacuation orders

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israel has intensified attacks and evacuation orders, confining 1.7 million displaced Palestinians into a mere tenth of Gaza’s area, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza. This drastic reduction in living space comes amid new evacuation orders from the Israeli military, further restricting the areas deemed “safe” for civilians.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Government Media Office condemned the Israeli military’s actions as “some of the most heinous crimes against civilians in Gaza,” particularly highlighting the ongoing forced displacement of over 1.7 million Palestinian civilians. The office stated that Israel uses threats of violence, including bombardment and internationally banned weapons, to coerce people into leaving their homes, labeling these actions as crimes against humanity.

The statement emphasized that Israel is deliberately and systematically suffocating the Palestinian population in Gaza, forcing them into increasingly smaller areas. The current space allocated for these civilians now constitutes less than 10% of the entire Gaza Strip.

The Government Media Office called on the international community, global organizations, and world governments to exert pressure on Israel and the United States to halt what it described as a genocide and to stop the Israeli military’s ongoing crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The statement also provided a timeline of Israel’s strategy to confine 1.7 million civilians south of Wadi Gaza into ever-shrinking “safe zones”:

Early November 2023: Israel claimed that a 230 square kilometer area in southern Gaza was a humanitarian safe zone, which accounted for 63% of Gaza’s total area. This included agricultural, commercial, and economic land, as well as roads and services.

Early December 2023: Following the invasion of Khan Younis, Israel reduced the “safe” area to 140 square kilometers, or 38.3% of Gaza’s total area, which still included agricultural land, cemeteries, commercial zones, and roadways.

Early May 2024: The designated “safe” area was further reduced to 79 square kilometers, or 20% of Gaza’s total area.

Mid-June 2024: Israel again cut the “safe” area to 60 square kilometers, representing 16.4% of Gaza’s total area.

Mid-July 2024: The “safe” area was reduced to 48 square kilometers, or 13.15% of Gaza’s total area.

Early August 2024: Israel claimed only 40 square kilometers, or 10.9% of Gaza’s total area, as a “safe” zone.

Mid-August 2024: The so-called “safe” area was slashed to just 36 square kilometers, only 9.5% of Gaza’s total area.

The Israeli military has declared that the Gaza and North Gaza governorates are not included in these “safe zones,” despite the presence of 700,000 Palestinian civilians in these areas.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military issued new orders for the evacuation of residents and displaced people in several towns within Deir al-Balah, as it prepares for further attacks. This latest reduction in “safe” areas has drawn sharp criticism from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which warned that these illegal evacuation orders signal more forced displacement and further confinement of nearly two million people.

The Euro-Med Monitor stressed that Israel’s continued offensive in Deir al-Balah, a densely populated city already sheltering displaced people from northern and southern Gaza, will only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. Many local and international humanitarian organizations have their bases in Deir al-Balah, and the escalating attacks on the city could disrupt vital aid efforts, putting the lives of Gaza’s civilians at even greater risk.

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