Israeli Military Relocates Gazans To 'Safe Zone' Before Starting Attack

Conditions of destruction in northern Gaza/DOK PHOTOSmen UNICEF/Mohammed Nateel

JAKARTA - Gazans were given tents and other housing equipment starting Sunday ahead of their relocation from the combat zone to the southern region to ensure their safety.

This comes days after Israel declared its intention to launch a new attack to seize control of the northern city of Gaza, the largest city center in the area, in a plan that sparked international concerns over the fate of the destroyed route, which is inhabited by about 2.2 million people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week said before launching the attack, civilians would be evacuated to a "safe zone" from Gaza City, which he called Hamas' last stronghold.

The shelter equipment will be moved through the Shalom Brake Crossing in southern Gaza by the United Nations (UN) and other international aid organizations after being questioned by Defense Ministry personnel.

A spokesman for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs Coordination expressed concern over Israel's plan to relocate residents to southern Gaza, saying it would only add to suffering.

However, the UN agency welcomes Israel's recognition of shelters as urgent needs and tents as well as other shelter equipment will be allowed back into Gaza.

"PBB and its partners will take advantage of this open opportunity," the spokesman said.

The United Nations previously warned thousands of families who had suffered from alarming humanitarian conditions could be pressed if Gaza City's plans were to resume.

Palestinian officials and the United Nations say there is no safe place in the area, including the region in southern Gaza where Israel ordered its residents to move.

The military declined to comment when asked if the shelter equipment was aimed at the Gaza City's currently estimated population of about one million people including whether their relocation site in southern Gaza was the Rafah region, which borders Egypt.

Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said on Saturday the plan for the new attack was still in the drafting stage.

The Palestinian militant faction, Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, said the military announcement "as part of its brutal attack to occupy Gaza City was a blatant and impudent insult to international conventions."

However, Israeli forces have stepped up operations in the outskirts of Gaza for the past week. Residents in the Zeitoun and Shejaia settlements have reported intense Israeli airstrikes and tanks.

Residents there also reported an all-day explosion as a result of Israeli tank fire on houses in the eastern part of the settlement.

The Israeli military on Friday last week said it had started a new operation in Zeitoun to find explosives, destroy tunnels, and kill militants in the area.