In Khan Yunis, 'We Are Running From Death to Death'

Israel issues one of its largest evacuation orders yet in Gaza; UN says there are no safe spots left
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2024 9:44 AM CDT
In Khan Yunis, 'We Are Running From Death to Death'
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip flee from the Hamad City neighborhood following an evacuation order by the Israeli army to leave parts of the southern area of Khan Yunis on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Over the weekend, residents in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis started receiving flyers and phone calls warning them that staying in the area "has become dangerous." Those cautionary messages came courtesy of the Israeli military, which said on Sunday that it was expanding evacuation orders in its war against Hamas "against the backdrop of the exploitation of the humanitarian zone for terrorist acts and the continuous firing of rockets towards the State of Israel," per the Hill.

Those who stay despite this warning risk the wrath of the Israel Defense Forces, which will "act forcefully against the terrorist organizations there," an IDF official wrote online, adding that the evacuation area should now be considered a "dangerous combat zone." Reuters notes that tens of thousands of Khan Yunis residents fled in the dark to comply with the evacuation order, one of the largest in the 10-month war.

As Israel continues to insist that it's striking Hamas military targets, Palestinians and the United Nations say there are no longer any safe areas to flee to in Gaza, where most of the strip's 2.3 million people are displaced. "We're exhausted. This is the 10th time I and my family have had to leave our shelter," one man in the Hamad neighborhood tells Reuters. "We are running from death to death." A mom of three and widow whose husband was killed in an Israeli airstrike in March tells the AP: "We don't know where to go." Hamas, meanwhile, has appeared to stall on negotiations that could lead to a ceasefire. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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