Jerusalem: The Israeli military has asked people from northern Gaza to evacuate southwards using two routes between 10am in the morning to 4pm in the evening, a spokesman said Saturday.
In a statement posted in Arabic on X, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Avichay Adraee said the routes can be used between the said period of time “without any harm”, reports CNN.
Those living in Gaza City have been advised to move south from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis, ahead of a potential ground offensive by the Israeli army, Adraee said.
People living near the beach and west of Olive will also be allowed to move on Daldul and Al-Sana Streets towards Salah Al-Din and Al-Bahr, he added.
Friday, the IDF had called on “the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza”.
Wadi Gaza, known for its coastal wetlands and biodiversity, is a river valley located around the centre of the Gaza Strip, snaking across its entire width and ending in the Mediterranean Sea.
“You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made,” the military had said, adding that the Hamas militants were hiding inside tunnels underneath the ciy and inside buildings populated with civilians.
It urged civilians to evacuate the city “for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields”.
“In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians.”
But the announcement has received widespread criticism over fears of spiralling the already dire humanitarian condition in the Hamas-controlled enclave.
The UN has warned that the evacuation order was “impossible” without causing major humanitarian consequences.
The world boy strongly appealed for the order to be rescinded, saying that it could lead to a “calamitous situation”.
Friday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters that the evacuation order was “utterly impossible to implement”, the BBC reported.
“To imagine that you could move one million people in 24 hours in a situation like Gaza can only be a humanitarian crisis,” Borrell said.
Despite the EU’s expression of support for Israel, he also warned that it was also obligated to follow international humanitarian law in the process of defending itself.
“The position is clear. But, as any right, it has a limit. And this limit is international law.”
Also on Friday, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths had said that “order to evacuate 1.1 million people from northern Gaza defies the rules of war and basic humanity”, CNN reported.
“Gaza is under intense bombardment. Roads and homes have been reduced to rubble. There is nowhere safe to go,” Griffiths said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Forcing scared and traumatized civilians, including women and children, to move from one densely populated area to another, without even a pause in the fighting and without humanitarian support, is dangerous and outrageous.”
He reiterated that “without safe passage and access to basic services, such mass displacement of civilians will have catastrophic humanitarian consequences and long-term implications”.
At least 1,900 Palestinians have been killed by near-constant shelling in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, including journalists and medics.
Prior to the evacuation warning, more than 400,000 Palestinians had been internally displaced, according to the UN.
IANS