The Israeli military has ordered residents in two areas of Gaza City, the strip's largest city, to evacuate to a "humanitarian zone" in the south.
"Urgent notice to all residents of Zeitoun and Turkmen. We ask residents here to move immediately to the al-Mawasi humanitarian area in the southern Gaza Strip via Salah Al-Din road," Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), announced on February 20.
Israeli media said the announcement indicated that the IDF appeared to be launching a new operation targeting the Zeitoun and Turkmen neighborhoods of Gaza City, a city in the northern Gaza Strip. Local authorities reported several casualties as the IDF advanced in these two areas over the past few hours.
Before launching its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the IDF ordered Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, to evacuate to the south. However, many remained in the area for more than four months of fighting.
Israeli soldiers fight in the Gaza Strip on February 20. Photo: IDF
The IDF announced on the same day that the 646th Reserve Paratrooper Brigade had withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, the last of four reserve brigades to be withdrawn. The 646th Brigade had participated in operations in the central Gaza Strip, then the southern city of Khan Younis.
According to Israeli defense officials, the decision to withdraw reserve forces from the Gaza Strip will help restore the country's economy and give soldiers in the above-mentioned units a rest before the IDF calls them up.
Israeli officials say the IDF’s large-scale operation in Khan Younis is coming to an end, but no specific date has been set. They say that although the Hamas battalions in Khan Younis have been disbanded, the IDF will continue to operate in the area to achieve smaller objectives.
Following the Hamas attack in early October 2023, the IDF launched a retaliatory operation against the Gaza Strip. According to the Gaza health authority, nearly 29,200 people have died in the conflict, mostly women and children.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned on February 18 that the IDF would attack the city of Rafah "if the hostages do not return home by Ramadan," which is scheduled to begin on March 10.
The plan has raised concerns about the risk of a humanitarian disaster, as Rafah is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians who have fled other areas of the Gaza Strip.
Nguyen Tien (According to AP, ToI )
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