The Israeli military issued an evacuation order for Gaza city Wednesday, instructing Palestinians to move to the center and south of the region, which saw dozens of deaths in the 48 hours prior.
The evacuation order was issued via leaflets dropped from the sky, reading that the area would "remain a dangerous combat zone." The leaflet laid out two "safe routes" that individuals could take to evacuate the area.
"Today’s directives will only fuel mass suffering for Palestinian families, many of whom have been displaced many times," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "These civilians must be protected, and their essential needs must be met, whether they flee or whether they stay."
There was "no immediate mass exodus," as many Palestinians believe there is no safe refuge any place in Gaza, The Associated Press reported.
The World Food Program posted on X that there was "intensified military action" in Gaza City, resulting in "escalating humanitarian needs." WFP said the situation is "unpredictable and volatile."
The evacuation order came as Israeli military forces continued their offensive in central Gaza on Wednesday, a day after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians killed at least 29 people, according to Palestinian health officials.
The Israeli Defense Forces carried out airstrikes on the towns of Nuseirat and Khan Yunis, killing at least six people and leaving several others wounded, according to various news outlets. Eight people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Deir al-Balah, an area located within a "humanitarian safe zone" where Palestinians have been told by Israel to seek refuge, AP reported.
Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute, spoke with VOA about how the new attacks could derail the cease-fire talks despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreeing to send a delegation to the talks.
"The important thing is not whether the military attacks are continuing while talks are ongoing, but rather conditions," Goren said. The main difference between the two sides concerning the cease-fire, he said, is "whether Israel could continue its fighting in Gaza ... this option is something that now Hamas totally rejects."
Apart from Netanyahu and his far-right allies, Goren told VOA that the public debate within most of Israel now, "including the security establishment, including even the president and the minister of defense, are calling to give this thing a chance to move forward. Acknowledging that they can handle whatever security concession that we may need to make just for the sake of bringing home those 120 people still held by Hamas."
"This is a national priority," Goren said. He said he thinks "people trust the idea" that Israel can "deal with" security issues, but people just want to "get this done." He added, however, that "Netanyahu doesn't seem to be on board yet."
Netanyahu has said that military pressure is the best way to prompt Hamas to free the hostages, about a third of whom are said to be dead.
Tuesday’s attack on the al-Awda school in Abasan near the southern city of Khan Yunis was apparently the fourth Israeli strike in as many days. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hamas fighter who took part in the deadly October 7, 2023, raid on southern Israel that precipitated the Israeli assault on Gaza.
Officials said the military was looking into the report that civilians were harmed in the airstrike.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that an Israeli strike on Saturday killed 16 people at the United Nations-run al-Jawani school in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where about 2,000 people were sheltering.
The following day another strike killed four at the Sacred Family School in northern Gaza. And an Israeli strike on Monday hit another U.N.-run school in Nuseirat, hospitalizing several people.
Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, warned on Tuesday that the attacks could put cease-fire talks at risk. And the U.N. Human Rights Office expressed concern about the operation and Israel's latest civilian evacuation orders.
The U.N. agency said the orders issued Sunday called for civilians to move to the west of Gaza City for safety, only to then have the Israel Defense Forces intensify their strikes on those corridors.
"The U.N. Human Rights Office has repeatedly raised concerns that IDF's evacuation orders are confusing, often instructing people to relocate to areas where IDF military operations are ongoing," the agency said in a statement. "We reiterate our call on Israel to take all efforts to ensure the safety of civilians in Gaza."
UN cites mass starvation
Famine has spread across the Gaza Strip, a panel of United Nations experts in Geneva said in a statement on Tuesday.
The experts pointed to the recent deaths of three children — a 6-month-old, a 9-year-old and a 13-year-old.
"All three children died from malnutrition and lack of access to adequate health care," the panel's statement said. "With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza."
The panel called upon "the international community to prioritize the delivery of humanitarian aid by land by any means necessary, end Israel's siege, and establish a cease-fire."
Cease-fire talks
Top intelligence officials from Egypt, Israel and the United States were set to meet Wednesday in Qatar in the latest effort to secure a cease-fire agreement, according to various news outlets.
CIA Director Bill Burns is to meet with Abbas Kamel, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, and Israeli spy chief David Barnea.
Burns and Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, held talks in Cairo on Monday with their Egyptian, Israeli and Jordanian counterparts, according to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their October 7 terror attack on Israel that sparked the war. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 116 hostages, including 42 the military says are dead.
Kim Lewis contributed to this story. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
