Thousands of Palestinians evacuate southern Gaza during latest Israeli bombardment: ‘Impossible choice’
Thousands of Palestinians fled their homes Tuesday during Israel’s latest bombardment in southern Gaza – as the Jewish state suggested it’s close to its goal of destroying Hamas and the war approached its ninth month.
The United Nations said Israel’s evacuation order before the bombardment was likely the largest — affecting an estimated 250,000 people — since October.
At least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded when Israeli tanks and planes advanced in Khan Younis, Karara, Abassan and other areas in southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between terrorists and civilians.
Israel had ordered the areas to evacuate before the targeted strikes began overnight, but many people had not heeded the warning as they had no other place to go after months of being caught in the battles between the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
While those who stayed behind were eventually forced to flee once the strikes began, others who were residing in locations marked safe by the IDF also ran despite Israel’s assurance that they would not be targeted.
Such was the case with the patients and staff at Gaza’s European Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the World Health Organization.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric lamented the displacement.
“An evacuation of such a massive scale will only heighten the suffering of civilians and drive humanitarian needs even higher,” Dujarric said.
“People are left with the impossible choice of having to relocate, some most likely for the second or third time, to areas that have barely any spaces or services, or staying in areas where they know heavy fighting will take place.”
The IDF said that the overnight airstrikes were aimed at the sites where terrorists fired a barrage of 20 rockets against southern Israel Monday, one of the largest attacks in recent weeks.
Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally group operating in Gaza, claimed responsibility for the rockets.
The airstrikes over southern Gaza came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed that the war in Gaza would soon be over.
“We are moving towards the end of the phase of dismantling Hamas’ terror army,” Netanyahu said at a military event in Jerusalem.
The embattled prime minister said he had seen “very considerable progress” in Israel’s ultimate goal of destroying Hamas, adding that the IDF will stay in Gaza to erase the remnants of the terror group.
The IDF believes that Hamas’s last remaining stronghold is based in Rafah, with Netanyahu reiterating that military might is the best way to free the remaining hostages in Gaza.
With Post wires
