The United Nations Calls Israel's Evacuation Orders In Khan Younis And Rafah The Biggest In Gaza Since October

Gaza refugees. (Source: UNRWA/Ashraf Amra)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday an order by Israeli authorities to evacuate the Khan Younis and Rafah areas was the largest order in the Gaza Strip since 1.1 million people were ordered to leave the enclave in October.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday's evacuation order applies to about a third of Gaza's territory and initial estimates from the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) suggest about 250,000 people may currently live in the area.

Dujarric said such a large-scale evacuation would only add to the suffering of civilians and push humanity's needs even higher," Reuters reported July 3.

"People are faced with impossible choices, namely having to move, most likely for the second or third time, to areas that barely have a place or service, or stay in areas where they know there will be fierce fighting," he said.

Earlier, Israeli forces bombarded several areas in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, causing Palestinians to flee their homes in what could be part of the final push of Israel's intensive military operations in nine months of war.

The Israeli military said actions had been taken before the attack to allow civilians to flee the region. The military accuses Hamas of using civilian infrastructure and a wider population of human shields.

It is known that the war in Gaza began when Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and holding about 250 people hostage, including civilians and soldiers, returned to Gaza, according to Israeli calculations.

Separately, Gaza's health authorities announced on Tuesday that the death toll of Palestinians from the Israeli attacks since October 7 had risen to 37,925, while 87,141 people were injured. The majority of victims were women and children, quoted from WAFA.