In parallel with its ground operations and missile strikes on Lebanon, the Israeli army is stepping up its strikes on the northern Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, October 9, the attacks continued, while since Sunday, "evacuation orders" have been issued by the Israeli army, concerning an arc-shaped area in the very north of the enclave, including parts of Gaza City, and the localities of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, close to Israeli territory. All of these areas had already been bombed in the early days of the war, and some had been emptied of their residents. The orders instructed the population, estimated at some 400,000 on October 1 according to the Gaza Governorate, to head for the south of the enclave.
At the same time, a military operation has been underway to encircle the Jabalia camp, close to Gaza City, which had been under heavy fire and bombardment since Monday. A mother, contacted by telephone on Wednesday morning, said she "couldn't leave the camp with her children" and added: "In any case, whether we leave the camp to go south or stay here, the result is the same. They shoot at us either way." On Sunday, the Israeli army's 162nd division had begun encircling the area, where, according to a briefing by Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani on Tuesday evening, the ongoing operations were aimed at a "regrouping of Hamas forces whose aim was to launch attacks." It's an indication that even if Hamas battalions are partly destroyed, their surviving elements continue to carry out guerrilla operations.
Orders to leave the area and move to the other side of the Netzrarim corridor, established by the army and which now cuts the enclave in two, seem not to have been fully heeded. According to the United Nations, 70,000 people have been displaced over the past few days in the whole of northern Gaza. As Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, pointed out, these evacuation orders are akin to "forced displacement, and are now part of a context of restricted movement in northern Gaza."
On Monday, evacuation orders were also issued to the three hospitals in the area. At the Kamal-Adwan Hospital, the director appealed for help, claiming that the army was threatening to move in. South of Jabalia, Mohammed Salha, director of the Al-Awda Hospital, decided to ignore the evacuation orders. "We're not moving. If they want to evacuate us, it will be by force. We have wounded people, we can't transport them anyway," he declared on Tuesday evening, contacted by telephone. Al-Awda continues to operate as best it can, while new wounded patients are pouring in. The hospital received around 40 casualties on Tuesday. The two operating theatres are running non-stop. Seventy-nine of the 155 employees who used to work at Al-Awda remain at the facility. Additional beds have been installed in the corridors. Mohammed Salha also describes the extreme danger for those trying to flee the area, blocked by gunfire in the streets and the collapse of buildings destroyed by Israeli army bombs.
You have 27.76% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.