While the focus in recent days has been on Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital, civilians and displaced people in the southern city of Khan Younis were met with evacuation leaflets from the Israeli army this morning, international news agencies report. Because large groups of people have fled the north and the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah is basically closed, they have almost nowhere to go.
Shortly after the call, several bombings were carried out on eastern neighborhoods of the city. “But that is not new,” says Middle East correspondent Olaf Koens. “The south has also been bombed for weeks.”
“Israel’s call to evacuate does not necessarily mean that the same thing will happen there as in the north,” says Koens. “It could be that it heralds a new phase in the war, but we don’t know exactly what it means.”
Massive destruction
Koens cannot imagine a real evacuation. “But at the same time, I couldn’t imagine the devastation we’re seeing in Gaza City. And yet it has happened. If that’s a sign of things to come, then I fear it.”
“Gaza City has been destroyed and bombed, and it is the largest city in the area,” says Koens. “Khan Younis is now one of the largest cities, if not the largest. There are so many people there now. It is now winter, it is very cold at night. If two million Palestinians are made homeless in these conditions, where should for God’s sake, are they going?”
On the leaflets, the Israeli army warned that “anyone near terrorists or their facilities is endangering their lives.” “Any house used by terrorists will be attacked.”
Pamphlets
Last month, the Israeli army dropped similar leaflets in northern Gaza. According to the Red Cross, around 1.5 million Palestinians have now been displaced. Many people have fled towards the south, as you can see in the images below:
2023-11-16 17:03:07
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