The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that it could relaunch intensive assaults in the area.
The order — which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday — heralded renewed hardship for Palestinians in the southernmost city of Rafah, which has been battered by the war between Israel and Hamas, and has endured periods of being overwhelmed with displaced people and depopulated by evacuation orders. The war restarted two weeks ago after a monthslong cease-fire collapsed.
In the past, the Israeli military has ordered evacuations ahead of both aerial attacks and ground maneuvers that it has said were targeting Hamas.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, on Monday posted a map of the affected areas on his social media accounts, including Rafah and parts of neighboring Khan Younis. He said Palestinians must relocate to shelters in a costal region to the north.
Israel’s military “is returning to fighting with great force to take out the capabilities of terrorists organizations in these areas,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, Mr. Adraee announced an evacuation order for some neighborhoods in Rafah, and the maps he posted on Monday again included those.
It was not clear how many people were still in Rafah when Mr. Adraee made his post and how many intended to follow his instructions. While hundreds of thousands of people lived there before the war, wide swaths of the city have since been reduced to rubble.
Over the past two weeks, Mr. Adraee has issued evacuations orders for other parts of Gaza, but many residents of those areas have seemingly ignored them.
Since the start of the war ignited by the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on Israel, Palestinians in Gaza have been repeatedly displaced by the fighting — a miserable experience that has forced many people to live in crowded makeshift shelters next to strangers.
The Israeli military resumed its attacks against Hamas in Gaza on March 18, after Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement to extend a cease-fire that started in January.
Israel and Hamas have been speaking to mediators about a potential deal to restore the cease-fire, but a breakthrough has not yet been achieved.
Photos posted on social media showed a succession of people fleeing Rafah on foot while carrying bags of belongings.
Hazem Haniyeh, an official in the Gaza-based office of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, said that the displacement from Rafah was particularly challenging for people still looking for a new place to stay.
“This decision has exacerbated the suffering of the people,” he said, adding that some, especially those with disabilities, were struggling to leave the city.
With a shortage of fuel, the cost of a ride to the north is out of reach for many families.
ّWafa Abu Duba, 43, a resident of Rafah, said she was getting used to living in a home with her mother, sister, and children, but now had no idea where to go.
“Our lives are shattered,” she said. “Where will I go now with my children? We have no food, no money, no essentials for survival,” she added. “Who will help us? Where will we find food and money?”
Ms. Abu Duba expressed frustration that the Israeli military was continuing its offensive in Gaza, but she also accused Hamas of giving Israel a pretext to wage war, with its Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
“May God avenge Hamas,” she said.
