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The Israeli army issued an evacuation order for Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Sunday, as it prepared to expand its offensive against Hamas into one of the few parts of the Palestinian enclave where it has not yet deployed ground forces.
The expansion of the 21-month-long offensive into the densely populated area comes as Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with the UN warning that Israel’s assault on the territory and restriction of aid deliveries had left its entire 2.1mn population at risk of famine.
The evacuation order, which came as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas remained stalled, warned the army was expanding its offensive into “new areas” in south-western Deir Al Balah and told Palestinians who were sheltering there to move south to a crowded tent city in Muwasi.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far right allies have repeatedly insisted that they will continue the war until Hamas has been destroyed, and argue that military pressure is the only way to force the militant group to release the 50 hostages it still holds in Gaza.
But the announcement of the expanded offensive, which came a day after tens of thousands of Israelis took part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv calling for a deal to end the war, drew condemnation from the Hostages Families Forum, which warned it could put the lives of their relatives at risk.
One of the reasons Israel has not previously attacked Deir al-Balah is because it is one of the locations where some of the hostages — about 20 of whom are still alive — are believed to have been held.
“Can anyone promise us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?” the Forum said, accusing the government of indulging in “spin and false promises” and not having “a clear war plan”.
“Enough! The people of Israel overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all the hostages,” the Forum added.
The protracted offensive, which has so far killed more than 58,000 Palestinians according to officials in the enclave, most of them women and children, has also drawn international criticism.
In recent weeks, hundreds of Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers as they attempted to reach new food distribution sites set up under a contentious Israeli- and US- backed scheme designed to replace the UN as the main conduit for aid deliveries to the enclave.
On Saturday, Israeli forces killed 32 Palestinians and injured dozens as they sought to reach food distribution sites in southern Gaza, according to the health ministry in the enclave.
The Israeli military said its troops had fired “warning shots” after they were approached outside the operating hours of the aid sites by people they deemed a threat. It added that it was “aware of reports regarding casualties”, and that the incident was “under review”.
Gaza’s health ministry said a further 73 Palestinians had been killed while waiting for aid on Sunday, including 67 in the north of the enclave, where the Israeli- and US-backed scheme does not operate.
The Israeli military acknowledged its soldiers had fired “warning shots” after a large group of people gathered in northern Gaza, but disputed the number of casualties reported, without providing figures of its own.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel, during which militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took a further 250 hostage.
