Israel orders new evacuation of Gaza humanitarian zone

Previous attacks by Israeli forces on aid workers have strained relations between the Netanyahu government and the Biden administration, which has supplied Israel with a steady stream of weapons throughout the war.

Nine months into the conflict, aid groups describe Gaza as one of the most dangerous places in the world to work, with more than a million civilians sheltering in tents to escape the summer heat. A U.N.-backed assessment says famine is looming, and Israel’s health ministry said Friday it had found a strain of the polio virus in Gaza’s sewage as the sanitation crisis worsens.

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of an area it had previously designated as a safe zone for civilians, saying it was planning an operation against Hamas militants who had used the area to fire rockets at Israel. In a statement, Hamas’s military wing said it had fired at three Israeli tanks and a bulldozer in the Bani Suhaila area of ​​Khan Younis, suggesting that fierce fighting was raging.

The area in question includes the eastern sector of Khan Younis, part of the humanitarian zone that includes Al Mawasi, where the Israeli military estimates that about 1.8 million Palestinians have taken refuge, with families packed so closely together that their tents extend to the beach.

Images from inside Gaza show thousands of people clutching their belongings as they cross streets crowded with people and debris, seeking to escape areas that Israel said would soon see military action.

Iman al-Zeir, 34, a mother of four, who was reached by phone in a section of Khan Younis subject to the evacuation order, said she was unable to leave because of the heavy gunfire.

The Gaza health ministry said 70 people had been killed and 200 wounded so far on Monday. The local civil defence force said its ambulance crew was hit while trying to reach victims at the Bani Suhaila roundabout.

Zeir said she heard the sound of heavy shelling and airstrikes nearby. “We could hear people screaming and running away,” she said. “Whenever we tried to move, we were shot at. It was impossible for us to move, because we would have to walk towards Bani Suhaila.”

The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that Israeli forces had fired on one of the organization’s convoys the previous day as it waited for the green light from the Israeli army to advance into the battle-torn north.

“The teams were travelling in armoured vehicles clearly marked with UN markings and wearing UN vests. One vehicle was hit by at least five bullets,” Lazzarini said in a message. Posted on X“Those responsible must be held accountable.”

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the incident. Louise Waterridge, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said she was sitting in the front seat of the car that came under fire by chance. She said the bullets appeared to have come from the IDF’s area of ​​operations to the east, leaving shrapnel on the back seat.

“We were incredibly lucky that there was no one in the back seat. This is the first mission I have done in the Gaza Strip where there was no one in the back seat. But it shouldn’t be about luck,” she said.

She added that there were no apparent military targets in the area and that the hail of bullets went off in the air after a displaced Palestinian mother passed the vehicle carrying a baby in her arms while three young children walked behind her in the scorching heat.

“They were there moments before the incident,” Waterridge said. “They were in the line of fire, but why?”

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli military operation, according to UN statistics. Ministry of Health in GazaWhich does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says that the majority of those killed are women and children.

The strained relationship between Netanyahu and Biden has deteriorated sharply in recent months as Israel has defied repeated White House pleas to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and do more to protect civilians. The administration suspended the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May, citing their use in populated areas.

Israeli military officials say the most intense phase of their war against Hamas is coming to an end. But on the ground in Gaza, Palestinian and foreign medics say they have seen a surge in Israeli attacks that have caused mass casualties in recent weeks. Aid groups say the casualties have overwhelmed hospitals, which are barely able to cope with the sheer number of unhealed wounds they were treating from previous attacks.

Analysts see the shift as part of an Israeli strategy to pressure Hamas in ongoing diplomatic negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of more than 100 hostages still held by the group. As U.S.-backed talks in Cairo gain momentum, the Biden administration is pressing a reluctant Netanyahu to accept a deal. Netanyahu denies he is obstructing the process.

Critics have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war for his own political advantage, a charge he denies. Netanyahu remains adamant that Israel must fight until Hamas is destroyed, a goal his generals say is unachievable.

Before Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, administration officials denied that Netanyahu had been greatly emboldened by criticism of the president’s physical ability to do his job. But they acknowledged that Biden’s growing woes have coincided with a hardening of the prime minister’s position. Netanyahu has recently made last-minute demands that U.S. negotiators feared could derail the Cairo talks, according to diplomats familiar with the discussions.

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that two more hostages, Alex Danzig, 76, and Yagiv Bukhtab, 35, were killed in the Gaza Strip. “All relevant professional bodies are investigating the circumstances of their deaths while in Hamas captivity,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari. “The IDF and other security services will continue to support the families of the hostages as needed.”

The Hostage Families Forum, an umbrella group representing the loved ones of more than 250 hostages kidnapped by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, called the news “devastating.” It said Buch Tap “was a humble, modest man who loved life” in the kibbutz from which he was abducted. “The hostages who were held with him reported that [Dancyg] “He spent his time in captivity giving historical lectures to his fellow prisoners.”

“Their deaths in captivity are a tragic reflection of the consequences of stalling negotiations. We reiterate our call on the Israeli government and its leader to agree to the deal immediately.”

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• At least 39,006 people were killed and 89,818 injured. They have been injured in Gaza since the war began, He said The Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the dead were women and children, estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 1,200 of them were women and children. 326 soldiers They were killed since the start of its military operations in Gaza.

Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv and Steve Hendricks in Jerusalem contributed to this report.