Israel orders fresh evacuations from ‘safe zone’ in Gaza as fighting continues

JERUSALEM – The Israeli army on Aug 16 ordered a fresh evacuation of areas in southern and central Gaza previously designated as a humanitarian safe zone, saying the areas had been used by Hamas as a base for firing mortars and rockets towards Israel.

It said warning fliers and text messages were sent out in the area north of the southern city of Khan Younis and in the eastern part of Deir Al-Balah, where tens of thousands of people have sought shelter from fighting in other parts of Gaza.

“The advance warning to civilians is being issued in order to mitigate harm to the civilian population and to enable civilians to move away from the combat zone,” the military said in a statement.

Earlier, the military said it hit an area in Khan Younis

from where rockets were fired

towards the community of Kissufim on Aug 15, finding shoulder-fired missiles and explosives.

The latest evacuation warnings came as negotiators in Doha were due to meet for a second day of talks aimed at reaching a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and bring Israeli and foreign hostages home.

Bombs, however, have continued to fall in Gaza.

“Why did (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu send a delegation to the talks while we are being killed here?” asked Mr Mohammed al-Balwi in Jabalia as rescuers around him pulled bodies from the concrete wreckage.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced multiple times since the start of the Israeli campaign in Gaza, launched following

the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023

.

Even in the areas designated as humanitarian safe zones, there have been regular reports of casualties from Israeli strikes.

Israel accuses Hamas and other militant groups of deliberately basing fighters in civilian areas, a charge Hamas denies.

The fighting has, in any case, become more scattered and less organised as Hamas has shifted towards guerrilla warfare-style tactics by small groups of fighters. REUTERS