Israeli call to evacuate central Gaza ahead of new offensive

The Israeli army on Sunday urged civilians to evacuate central Gaza, announcing an operation targeting Hamas fighters in an area of the Palestinian territory “where it had never operated before.”

In a message posted on X, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, called on residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir al-Balah area to leave immediately. Israel is “expanding its operations” around Deir al-Balah, “including into a zone where it had not previously operated,” he said. He urged civilians to “move south, to the al-Mawassi area” on the coast “for their safety.”

In nearly 22 months of war, the vast majority of Gaza’s more than two million residents have been displaced at least once. In January, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that over 80% of the war-ravaged, starving Palestinian territory remained under active Israeli evacuation orders.

UNRWA: One million children starving

Meanwhile, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) accused Israel of “starving civilians,” including one million children in Gaza, through a blockade restricting the delivery of essential aid to the enclave.

In a post on X, UNRWA called on Israel to lift the siege and allow the agency to deliver food and medicine. Gaza’s Health Ministry also announced that three trucks from the World Health Organization (WHO), carrying medical supplies — but no food — were expected to enter the enclave during the day.

In a statement, the ministry said the trucks are of “great importance” for Gaza’s medical facilities. “The Ministry of Health calls on honorable citizens, all dignitaries, families, and concerned parties to do everything possible to protect the convoy by not approaching the trucks, and to ensure their safe arrival at hospitals to save the lives of patients and the wounded,” the statement added.

Ground operations in Jabalia

In Israel, the families of hostages still held in Gaza expressed concern over the consequences of the expanding offensive. A relatives’ association urged Israeli authorities to “urgently explain to citizens and families the combat plan and how it protects the hostages.”

On the ground, Gaza’s Civil Defense told AFP on Sunday that seven people were killed overnight in new Israeli strikes on Gaza City and in the south of the territory. The Israeli army said it had intensified its ground operations in Jabalia, claiming to have killed “dozens of terrorists” and dismantled “hundreds of terrorist infrastructures,” including tunnels extending 2.7 kilometers at a depth of 20 meters.

Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed 54 people, including 51 aid seekers, since dawn on Sunday, medical sources told al-Jazeera's correspondent on the ground in the Strip.

Protest in Tel Aviv

As Israel and Hamas continue indirect negotiations toward a possible truce, hundreds of people gathered Saturday evening in Tel Aviv, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump to secure the release of the hostages and end the war.

Of the 251 people kidnapped in Israel during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack — which triggered the war — 49 remain held in Gaza. The Israeli army has declared 27 of them dead.

The Oct. 7 attack left 1,219 people dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

In Gaza, Israeli strikes have killed at least 58,765 people, the vast majority civilians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry — figures considered reliable by the United Nations.