Rabat – Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes in Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, as the Israeli forces expand their aggression in the southern part of the enclave.
The mass exodus follows a new Israeli evacuation order, one of the largest in the 10-month conflict, affecting central, eastern, and western districts of Khan Younis.
In the early hours of Sunday, families carrying whatever belongings they could manage to grab and left their homes and makeshift shelters to seek refuge in increasingly overcrowded and deteriorating conditions elsewhere in Gaza.
This comes just days after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed over 100 Palestinians.
Israeli forces have repeatedly ordered such mass evacuations, citing the need to target Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups allegedly operating from within civilian areas.
However, these evacuations have pushed Gaza’s 2.3 million residents into an ever-shrinking space. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, with more than 92,000 wounded.
Hani Mahmoud, an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground, highlighted the deteriorating conditions: “The ongoing mass evacuation is causing a great deal of difficult living conditions as people are pushed into a smaller area.”
He added, “The humanitarian zones in the western part of Khan Younis have shrunk, leading to further overcrowding in an area already running out of space. People don’t have basic supplies to cope with these unusually difficult conditions.”
International aid agencies and the United Nations have struggled to address the overwhelming humanitarian needs.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), reiterated that the people of Gaza are “trapped” with nowhere safe to go, as even designated humanitarian zones have come under attack.
