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Israel has told civilians in the northern Gaza Strip, including residents of Gaza City, to move to the south of the enclave, below the Wadi Gaza nature reserve, saying it will be safer there as it attacks Hamas following its October 7 cross-border assault.<\/p>\n
However, Israeli warplanes have continued to hit sites in southern Gaza, spreading fear among the evacuees that they are just as vulnerable there as they were in their homes in the north. Here is an overview of the situation.<\/p>\n
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A wounded Palestinian man is wheeled into the Nasser Medical Complex, following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Since telling Gazans to head south, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have continued to pound targets across the area, killing an unknown number of civilians. In all, authorities in Gaza say 6546 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli strikes started in retaliation for Hamas\u2019 terror attack on Israel that killed 1400 people on October 7. Residents said the bombardment of the south intensified on October 25. One strike brought down several apartment buildings in Khan Younis, some 10 kilometres from the Egyptian border.<\/p>\n The military has said the homes where terrorists live are \u201clegitimate targets\u201d even if civilians live alongside them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe so-called private home is not a private home,\u201d a senior Israeli air force officer told reporters in a recent briefing.<\/p>\n Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike on a house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n The IDF has said that even if Hamas\u2019 main power centre is in Gaza City, it is nonetheless entrenched among the civilian population across the enclave.<\/p>\n \u201cWherever a Hamas target arises, the IDF will strike at it in order to thwart the terrorist capabilities of the group, while taking feasible precautions to mitigate the harm to uninvolved civilians,\u201d the military said on Wednesday, reiterating previous statements.<\/p>\n The Israeli military said on October 12 that nearly half of Gaza\u2019s 2.3 million population should move to the southern half of Gaza within 24 hours. The military said the order was aimed at moving civilians away from \u201cHamas terror targets\u201d, which it believes are concentrated in the north.<\/p>\n Buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 23.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus subsequently said: \u201cWe are preparing the area for significant military activity in Gaza City. That is the next stage. That\u2019s why we are asking civilians to go south of the Gaza River.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel has massed troops on the border with Gaza and is widely expected to launch a land invasion. On October 18, the military urged residents of Gaza to evacuate to what it called a humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, on the coast of southern Gaza. Israel renewed its warnings on October 22, saying that anyone staying in the north could be identified as sympathisers of a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d if they did not leave.<\/p>\n Hamas, a designated terror organisation in Australia, the US among others, has urged Palestinians to ignore the Israeli warnings.<\/p>\n Israel said on Wednesday it had attacked Hamas roadblocks that it believed were stopping people evacuate.<\/p>\n Despite Hamas\u2019 attempts to stop an exodus, residents and international aid organisations say there has been a mass displacement of people away from the north and other areas of the enclave seen as especially vulnerable.<\/p>\n The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated on October 24 that more than 1.4 million people were internally displaced (IDPs) within Gaza.<\/p>\n Some 350,000 Palestinians are still in northern Gaza, according to Israeli estimates reported by the Associated Press.<\/p>\n Still, many Palestinians are choosing to return north, tired of moving from place-to-place under Israeli fire as shelters become overcrowded and unlivable, the AP reported. UN monitors estimate 30,000 have returned.<\/p>\n Ekhlas Ahmed, 24 and eight-months pregnant, was among them.<\/p>\n A week ago, she fled Gaza City after repeated Israeli warnings to move south. She returned after the home she was sheltering in along with 14 other family members in the south was hit by an Israeli airstrike.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a residential building and they bombed it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ahmed, who has a four-year-old son, is hoping for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n \u201cI am very frightened. All of us are frightened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Gaza\u2019s border crossings with both Egypt and Israel are closed, effectively trapping residents inside the enclave. Some aid trucks have been allowed in from Egypt.<\/p>\n UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said giving hundreds of thousands of people just hours to leave their homes was \u201cdangerous and deeply troubling\u201d. Many Western governments have called for a pause in the fighting to open humanitarian corridors for the trapped civilians. Arab nations have called for Israel to stop the war.<\/p>\n Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n Get a note direct from our foreign <\/i><\/b>correspondents <\/i><\/b>on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nWhy is Israel still hitting the south? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Why did Israel order the evacuation to the south?<\/h3>\n
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How many people have moved?<\/h3>\n
What has the international community said?<\/h3>\n
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