Israeli evacuation orders in Deir al-Balah force 250,000 Gazans to flee

Israeli evacuation orders have forced around 250,000 Palestinian civilians to flee their neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, according to local authorities on Monday.The Israeli army on Sunday demanded Palestinians evacuate an area east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza that was previously designated as a “humanitarian area” by the military.“The new evacuation orders have created a new tragedy and deepened the suffering of the people of Deir al-Balah,” the municipal office said in a statement.According to the office, the city was home to around half of Gaza's population.The evacuation orders “have caused the forced displacement of about 250,000 people and put 25 shelters out of service,” it added.The office said that four new water wells were forced out of service due to Israeli attacks in the area.“The number of non-operational wells has reached 14, which used to supply water to about 70% of the city's population,” it said.“This will exacerbate the residents' conditions and make it difficult for them to access water,” the office warned.The municipal office warned that the Israeli evacuation orders also “threaten a main water reservoir in the city, which is the only remaining reservoir after two others went out of service due to Israeli attacks.”On Tuesday, United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric warned of the dangers posed by Israeli evacuation orders on residents and displaced civilians in Gaza.According to UN data, 9 out of every 10 people living in Gaza have been forced to flee due to Israeli attacks.Gaza's government media office said last week that the Israeli army was confining approximately 1.7 million displaced Palestinians into a cramped space that does not exceed one-tenth of the total area of the enclave.Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. The onslaught has resulted in over 40,400 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,500 injuries, according to local health authorities. An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins. Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.