Israel orders new evacuation in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis

Jerusalem, Aug 11 (EFE).- Israel’s military on Sunday ordered the evacuation of more parts of the so-called «humanitarian zone» in northern Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, further reducing the «safe» area of the enclave, two days after launching a new ground offensive in the city.

A short while earlier, the Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of more neighborhoods of Khan Younis towards the humanitarian zone in view of imminent fighting.

On Friday, Israeli ground troops began a new offensive in Khan Younis, an important city in the south of the Gaza Strip that was partially evacuated.

Khan Younis has historically been a stronghold of Palestinian militants in Gaza, and in recent days the Israeli military has again ordered the evacuation of several neighborhoods, including Al-Salqa, Al-Qarara, Bani Suhaila, Abasan, Khirbet Khuza’a, all in the east and northeast of the city.

On Aug. 4, Israel had also ordered the evacuation of neighborhoods in the southeast of the city, following an incursion in late July that left some 300 dead.

The city’s inhabitants have no choice but to move towards the increasingly narrow «humanitarian zones» of the enclave, which have nevertheless been bombed and where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are crowded into tents without access to electricity or running water.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) nonprofit estimates that Israeli evacuation orders in recent weeks have significantly reduced the size of the areas designated by the military as «humanitarian zones» in Gaza, which from comprising 20 percent ​​of the enclave have come down to just over 14 percent.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 200,000 people were evacuated from Khan Younis between July 22 and 27, during the latest ground offensive by the Israeli military, which left much of the city completely razed to the ground. EFE

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