200,000 flee Gaza City ahead of Israeli offensive
GAZA CITY
Around 200,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City in recent weeks as the Israeli military prepares a major offensive in the enclave’s main urban hub, the Israeli Defense Forces said on Sept. 11.
Before the evacuation order, an estimated 1 million Palestinians — nearly half of Gaza’s population — were living in the northern Gaza area surrounding Gaza City. On Sept. 9, the IDF ordered all residents to evacuate immediately to a so-called “humanitarian zone” in the south.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his agency and its partners will not leave Gaza City despite the Israeli directive.
“WHO is appalled by the latest evacuation order, demanding that 1 million people move from Gaza City to a so-called ‘humanitarian zone’ in the south designated by Israel,” Tedros said in a statement. “The zone has neither the size nor scale of services to support those already there, let alone new arrivals.”
He also stressed that nearly half of Gaza’s functioning hospitals are located in the city, vowing that WHO staff will remain in place.
On Sept. 10, dozens of vehicles, motorbikes and donkey carts packed with belongings crowded Gaza City’s coastal road as families attempted to leave.
Among them was Amal Sobh, displaced from Beit Lahia with 30 relatives, including 13 orphans. She said their three-wheel vehicle broke down and they had no fuel to continue.
“I have 13 orphans. The one who is in my lap, his temperature is high like fire,” she told The Associated Press. “I don’t have money to buy medicine for him.”
Another displaced resident, Umm Mohamed al-Boghdady, said her family lost their tents and all belongings in an Israeli strike.
“The tents are gone, and nothing is left of it, not even clothes and belongings. We only left with a basil plant,” she said.
The death toll from Israel’s attacks on Gaza has risen by 72 in the past 24 hours, reaching 64,718, while seven people have died of hunger.
