KHAN YUNIS, (PIC)
In a dangerous development reflecting a new escalation in the ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation army issued orders on Monday morning to evacuate large areas of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, amid fears of the consequences of this decision.
The orders targeted entire towns and neighborhoods in the eastern and southern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis, demanding that residents immediately leave their homes and head westward, specifically toward the narrow coastal strip, under humanitarian conditions described as catastrophic.
These evacuation orders came just hours after the occupation forces launched fire belts following the infiltration of a special Israeli military unit, which executed a commander in the Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades and kidnapped his wife and son from the Al-Katiba neighborhood in Khan Yunis, using them as human shields during their withdrawal from the area.
Forced displacement amid hunger and destruction
Scenes of mass displacement have returned once again, as entire families were seen walking on foot under the scorching sun, carrying only what light belongings they could manage, while the roar of shelling echoed in the background.
Eyewitnesses reported that civilian convoys were heading west toward coastal areas that themselves lack the necessary infrastructure to accommodate additional numbers of displaced people.
Mahmoud Abu Abed, a resident of Bani Suheila neighborhood, told our correspondent: “We woke up to threatening messages ordering evacuation. We don’t know where to go. The areas they asked us to move to are overcrowded, and there is no food, water, or shelter. We are living a layered tragedy.”
According to estimates, the evacuation orders affect more than 200,000 civilians, tens of thousands of whom have no alternative place to go to—not even a tent—let alone access to means of transportation to carry their belongings.
The occupation forces published a new map detailing the evacuation orders, showing most of Khan Yunis marked in red, along with an expansion of the buffer zone to the east, swallowing more lands and neighborhoods in Al-Fukhari, Khuza’a, Abasan Al-Kabira, Abasan Al-Jadida, and Al-Qarara.
The humanitarian reality: A slow death
Local and international relief organizations have warned of worsening humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip in general, confirming that residents face a severe shortage of food supplies and an almost total collapse of health services, while transportation is paralyzed due to fuel shortages and the destruction of main roads.
Thousands reject the idea of displacement, insisting on staying where they are due to the lack of alternatives and the absence of any safe zone in the Gaza Strip. Many also fear this may be the beginning of being pushed toward areas under occupation control in Rafah.
Intense airstrikes
These developments come amid ongoing intense airstrikes targeting homes, mosques, and main roads, resulting in dozens of martyrs and wounded in recent hours.
Caught between the hammer of bombing and the anvil of hunger and displacement, the residents of Khan Yunis face a renewed humanitarian catastrophe, as chances of survival dwindle and safe spaces disappear.
With no prospect of a political solution or humanitarian truce in sight, civilians continue to pay the highest price in a merciless war.
