The Israeli military has ordered all Palestinians to leave Gaza City and head south as it continues a new offensive in the north, south and central Gaza Strip that has killed dozens of people in the past 48 hours.
Leaflets were dropped from the air on Wednesday urging “all residents of Gaza City” to leave and take “safe routes” south towards Deir el-Balah and az-Zawayda.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza has called on residents of Gaza City to refrain from following Israeli evacuation orders, saying the instructions are part of the Israeli military's psychological warfare against Palestinians.
The United Nations said the latest evacuations “will only increase the massive suffering of Palestinian families, many of whom have been displaced many times.”
“Civilians must be protected,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
Reporting from Deir-el Balah, Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary said Palestinians in Gaza City, where Israeli attacks have intensified, feel trapped and do not know where to go.
“I also want to remind you that there are no civil defense teams, no Red Cross. There is no one there to evacuate these Palestinians,” he said.
Israel issued the first formal evacuation order for part of the city on June 27, and two more in the following days.
The government says it is pursuing Hamas fighters who are regrouping in various parts of Gaza, nine months after the war began. The new ground assault began in the eastern neighborhood of Shujayea, but this week tanks also moved into the central and western districts, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee south.
Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza
The latest evacuation order comes a day after an Israeli airstrike on al-Awdah school killed at least 30 people and wounded 53 others, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian medics.
Exclusive footage from the school, obtained by Al Jazeera, shows Palestinian youths playing football outside the school as dozens of people look on. A loud explosion is then heard, sending people running for cover.
A Palestinian boy told Al Jazeera that he had lost several family members in the attack. “We were sitting and a missile hit and destroyed everything,” he said, sobbing. “I lost my uncle, my cousins and my relatives.”
The attack has been condemned by world leaders and the Israeli military has said it is investigating.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that two-thirds of the schools it runs in the Gaza Strip, which have served as shelters for displaced Palestinians since the war began, have been attacked, killing 524 people.
“United Nations structures, schools and shelters are not a target,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military also said it attacked fighters inside the UNRWA headquarters.
Visiting central Gaza on Wednesday, Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said forces were operating in different ways, in multiple parts of the territory “to carry out a very important mission: pressure.”
“We will continue to operate to bring the hostages home,” Halevi said.
At least 38,295 people have been killed and 88,241 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza since October, according to Palestinian authorities. Gaza's health ministry said Wednesday that 52 Palestinians were killed and 208 wounded in the past 24 hours.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics, and taking another 250 hostages, dozens of whom remain in captivity in Gaza.
Progress in ceasefire negotiations?
The escalation of Israeli military activity comes as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators meet with Israeli officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks seeking a long-elusive ceasefire deal and an exchange of captives held by Hamas for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Hamas officials have expressed concern that heavy Israeli attacks across the territory in recent days could derail negotiations.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Monday that Israel's escalation of attacks has threatened talks at a crucial time and could push negotiations “back to square one.”
Hamas, however, still wants international mediators to ensure that the truce talks in Doha conclude with a permanent ceasefire, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted he will not accept any deal that forces Israel to halt its campaign in Gaza without eliminating Hamas.
