IDF orders residents of northern Gaza to evacuate
The Israeli Defence Forces have ordered residents of the city of Gaza and the entire northern Gaza Strip to evacuate in order to ensure the military's "freedom of action" against Hamas.
The Times of Israel reports.
According to the army spokesperson, the evacuation of Palestinians from the area is intended to ensure the military's "freedom of action" against Hamas. One million Palestinians have 24 hours to evacuate from the northern Gaza Strip. There are 1.1 million people living in this region.
This message applies to UN staff and those people who have been staying in UN facilities in these areas.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announces that it has moved its main operations centre and non-resident staff to the southern Gaza Strip. The agency warns Israel that the country must protect civilians in UN schools and shelters.
The IDF attacked 750 targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. They targeted 12 multi-storey towers, which, according to the IDF, contained Hamas assets.
The death toll of Palestinians exceeds 1,500, with another 6,612 injured.
The international human rights group Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus shells during military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The organisation says it has reviewed video recordings taken in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on October 10 and 11, 2023, showing numerous aerial explosions of white phosphorus from artillery over the Gaza City port and two rural areas along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The WHO has stated that the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip is "on the verge of breaking down" due to the almost constant aerial shelling. The use of such weapons, human rights activists said, puts civilians at risk.
"Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day, as they are forced to ration their fuel supplies and rely on generators to maintain essential functions. Even these functions will have to stop in a few days when fuel supplies run out," the report says.
However, as the injury and death toll continues to rise due to the ongoing airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the acute shortage of medical supplies is worsening the crisis, limiting the response capacity of already overloaded hospitals to treat the sick and injured.
Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
