Israel’s military warned more than 1mn Palestinians to leave Gaza City and its outskirts, in a move the UN said would cause a “calamitous” mass civilian displacement.
The warning for about half of the Gaza Strip’s population to relocate from the north to the south of the enclave came with what the UN said was a 24-hour deadline, as Israel continued its siege and bombardment of the 40km-long territory, particularly its main city.
“Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,” the Israel Defense Forces said in leaflets it dropped on the territory on Friday.
It added: “This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made.”
About 1.1mn people live in the northern part of Gaza, which includes Gaza City and its outskirts.
Israel declared war and launched air strikes on Gaza after armed gunmen stormed into the country on Saturday, killing more than 1,300 civilians and soldiers and kidnapping dozens more.
The IDF said that, in coming days it would “continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians”. Palestinian authorities say that more than 1,500 people in Gaza have been killed since the beginning of the military escalation.
Some in the region took Friday’s warning, a week into the Israel-Hamas war, as a sign of an imminent ground operation targeting the densely populated city and the north of the enclave.
The UN said its humanitarian and security teams had been informed by “liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza [an area in the centre of the territory] should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours”.
But an Israeli military official did not confirm that there was a 24-hour deadline, adding that moving would “take time”.
Hamas’s interior ministry for the territory, which the militant group controls, told people to remain where they were, amid confusion in Gaza, which is home to more than 2mn people.
Queues formed in front of petrol stations which were later shut for lack of fuel, as some people packed suitcases and headed south. Many others, who lacked transport, stayed at home.
“We will not leave, we will stay together,” said Om Saher, who lives in Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza with four of her married children and their families. “Either we live together or we die together. We will not be displaced again.”
The UN said Israel’s call applied to its own staff in Gaza and to tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering in UN facilities, including schools, health centres and clinics. It called on Israel to rescind the warning.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” said spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, warning that it could “transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation”.
Another UN official warned of the risk of “the movement of 1mn people while military operations are still continuing”.
The IDF said it was “controlling” its attacks to provide a “safe way” for evacuation. “We know how to do this through all the channels that are provided,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson. “As much as we can — it’s a war zone — we will try to make sure that it happens safely.”
He accused Hamas of a “crime against humanity” by holding dozens of hostages in Gaza — including Israelis, and American and European citizens.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Saturday’s attack was “the most harrowing day since the Holocaust for the Jewish people”, while IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi has warned that “Gaza will not look the same” after the war.
The UN’s agency for Palestinian relief, UNRWA, called on Israel to protect the 270,000 taking refuge in its shelters, adding that international humanitarian law meant they must “never come under attack.”
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner general, said: “The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hell hole and is on the brink of collapse.”
The agency said Gaza City was its centre of operations but it was relocating some staff to a logistics base in the south to allow it “to continue operations and services to people in need in Gaza”.
Gaza’s residents are prevented from leaving the enclave by severe travel restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt and the IDF blockade. Israel has also cut water, power and fuel supplies.
The territory’s health authority released photos of what appeared to be gravely injured children being treated in crowded hospital conditions, including on the floor. Gaza’s main power station ran out of fuel this week.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on a visit to Israel this week that the country had the right to defend itself “to ensure that this never happens again” but also urged it to take “every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians”.
After Saturday’s attacks, Netanyahu called on Palestinians in Gaza to “leave now”, but the Israeli border with the enclave is now a closed military zone.
Talks with Egypt to open a humanitarian corridor or a hub for refugees on its side of the border with Gaza have so far failed, said a western diplomat involved in the negotiations. They added that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has so far been so intense that no aid convoys are under discussion unless a ceasefire is in place.
As tensions from the conflict rippled worldwide, an Israeli embassy employee in Beijing was attacked on Friday and was in a stable condition in hospital, the county’s embassy in China said.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv, Heba Saleh in Cairo and Joe Leahy in Beijing
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