Israeli army orders Gaza City suburb evacuated, spurring new wave of displacement

A Gaza hospital director was hurt in an Israeli drone strike, according to Palestinian medical officials, while the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders to people in parts of a suburb in eastern Gaza City on Sunday, causing a fresh round of displacement. The Israeli army spokeswoman posted the new instructions for the Shejaia area on X on Saturday night, blaming them on rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the densely populated northern Gaza Strip district.

“For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the south,” the military’s post said. The rocket volley on Saturday was claimed by Hamas’ armed wing, which said it had targeted an Israeli army base over the border.

Footage circulated on social and Palestinian media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed residents leaving Shejaia on donkey carts and rickshaws, with others, including children carrying backpacks, walking.

Residents and Palestinian media reported that families in the targeted districts started to evacuate their homes after dark on Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday. This was the most recent in several waves of displacement since the war started 13 months ago. According to health officials in central Gaza, Israeli airstrikes on the urban settlements of Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij since Saturday night have killed at least ten Palestinians. Heavy winter rains inundated hundreds of tents throughout the enclave, causing food to decay and sweeping away the plastic and cloth sheeting that had shielded them from the weather, adding to the suffering of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, the majority of whom have been evacuated multiple times.

According to Israeli soldiers, armed militants operate under cover of civilian structures such as schools, hospitals, and apartment complexes. Hamas disputes this, claiming that Israeli forces target inhabited areas arbitrarily.  According to the health ministry, Israeli soldiers have detained and evicted medical personnel and stopped emergency medical, food, and fuel supplies from reaching three hospitals in north Gaza, including Kamal Adwan.
Israel claimed to have worked with international organizations like the World Health Organization in recent weeks to enable the transfer of patients from hospitals in northern Gaza as well as the delivery of fuel and medical supplies.

Israeli forces have exploded hundreds of homes since resuming operations in three beleaguered villages in northern Gaza: Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun. Israel claims that the area was free of militants months ago. Israel disputes the Palestinians’ claim that it is intent on permanently displacing the local population in order to establish a buffer zone along Gaza’s northern border. According to Gaza officials, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed over 44,000 people, uprooted almost the entire population at least once, and left large areas of the slender coastal region in ruins.