Israeli military orders another Gaza evacuation ahead of offensive
18 December 2024, 11:14
It comes as Israel and the militant group Hamas appeared to inch closer to a ceasefire in the 14-month war.
The Israeli military has ordered another evacuation in central Gaza ahead of an offensive in the area.
It comes as Israel and the militant group Hamas appeared to inch closer to a ceasefire in the 14-month war.
“This is an advance warning ahead of an offensive,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The order included four residential block areas in the urban refugee camp of Bureij, where Adraee claimed that Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Israel.
He asked the residents to move to a “humanitarian zone” in the Muwasi area.
The Israeli media have issued frequent evacuation orders for different parts of Gaza throughout the war, displacing more than 90% of the population, most of them multiple times.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he will meet Wednesday with US President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Adam Boehler, at his home in Jerusalem.
Mr Boehler, a former aid to Jared Kushner, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
Talks to broker the ceasefire and hostage release deal have restarted after a months-long pause.
The deal on the table includes a six-week pause in fighting in which Hamas would release 30 hostages, including three of four dual Israeli-US citizens, in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Mr Trump has said he wants a quick end to the war.
Israeli bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians over the past 14 months, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The ministry’s tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but it says more than half the dead were women and children.
Israel launched its campaign in retaliation for Hamas’ October 2023 attack on southern Israel in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, around 100 of whom remain in captivity.
