DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Israeli army on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of an area in the Gaza Strip that it has designated a humanitarian zone.
The military said it plans to begin an operation against Hamas militants who have embedded themselves in the area and used it to fire rockets toward Israel. The area includes the eastern part of the Muwasi humanitarian zone, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip.
Many Palestinians have been uprooted several times in search of safety during Israel’s harsh air and ground campaign.
Earlier this month, Israel said so estimates that there are at least 1.8 million Palestinians They are now in the declared humanitarian zone that covers a stretch of about 14 kilometers (8.6 miles) along the Mediterranean. Much of that area is now covered in tent camps who lack health and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, the UN and humanitarian groups say. Families live in the middle of mountains of garbage and streams polluted by sewage.
The announcement came during delicate negotiations seeking a ceasefire in Gaza, with US and Israeli officials expressing hope that a deal is closer than ever. A negotiating team will be sent to continue talks on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. Egypt, Qatar and the United States continue to pressure Israel and Hamas toward a gradual ceasefire agreement that would stop the fighting and free the hostages.
Netanyahu left Monday morning on a long-awaited trip to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden, who announced Sunday that he will not seek another term, and address Congress.
Netanyahu said that regardless of who becomes the next US president, “our enemies must know that Israel and the United States will be together tomorrow and always.” He said he will thank Biden for more than 40 years of friendship, while also pushing him to provide more support on certain issues.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war began with a Hamas militants attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took around 250 hostages. About 120 people are still being held and about a third of them are believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.
The Israeli military said Monday that it continues to operate in central and southern Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people, including women and children, in Gaza, according to hospital officials and a body count by an Associated Press journalist.
The already precarious humanitarian conditions inside besieged Gaza have worsened with the discovery of polio virus as water and sanitation services have deteriorated for the territory’s 2.3 million inhabitants, most of them displaced. Traces of the virus were found in wastewater samples in Gaza. The World Health Organization has said that no one has been treated for symptoms caused by the disease.
Israel’s military said soldiers would be vaccinated and that it would work with organizations to bring vaccines to Palestinians.
Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and secure the return of the remaining hostages. The hostages’ families and thousands of other Israelis have held weekly demonstrations to urge the prime minister to reach a deal. ceasefire agreement that would bring their loved ones home.
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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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