CAIRO/GAZA: Israel issued new evacuation orders from Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip late Sunday, forcing new families to flee as it said forces intended to crack down on Hamas militants and others operating in the area. Israel has issued several evacuation orders across Gaza in recent days, the most since the start of the 10-month war, prompting protests from Palestinians, the United Nations and aid officials over shrinking humanitarian zones and the lack of safe zones.
The municipality of Deir el-Balah reports that Israel's evacuation orders have displaced 250,000 people so far.
At least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes on Monday, medics said. Two were killed in Deir al-Balah, where about a million people have taken refuge, two at a school in the Al-Nuseirat camp and three in the southern city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
The new orders forced many families and patients to leave Al-Aqsa Hospital, the main medical facility in Deir al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced persons have taken refuge, fearing the bombings.
The hospital is located near the evacuation zone.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said in a statement on X on Sunday evening that the explosion about 250 meters (820 feet) from the MSF-supported al-Aqsa hospital had caused panic.
“As a result, MSF is considering temporarily suspending wound care in an attempt to maintain life-saving treatment.”
Of the approximately 650 patients, only 100 remain in hospital, with seven in the intensive care unit, the report said, citing the Gaza health ministry.
“Such a situation is unacceptable. With no alternatives for patients, Al-Aqsa has been operating far beyond capacity for weeks. All warring parties must respect the hospital, as well as patients' access to medical care,” the statement added.
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Sawasn Abu Afesh said she and her children had been displaced 11 times.
“I left half of my children next to my furniture and now I am with my babies and my daughter, only God can help us… I have no money for transport, I will go to zone 17 where my family is. my leg I took my children and three stayed. I don't know where,” said the woman.
The escalation comes with little hope that there is no end to the war, as diplomacy by the mediators, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, has so far failed to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas, whose leaders have traded blame for the lack of agreement.
Neither Hamas nor Israel agreed to several compromises presented by mediators at talks in Cairo on Sunday, two Egyptian security sources said.
A senior US official, however, described the talks as “constructive”, saying all sides were working towards a “final and enforceable agreement”.
A Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said the group rejected new terms put forward by Israel during talks the group was not present, adding that US comments about an imminent cease-fire deal were false and electorally targeted.
US President Joe Biden and his administration have faced growing protests in the US over aid to Israel ahead of the November election.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 40,000 Palestinians died during the war. The populous enclave has been devastated, with most of its 2.3 million people repeatedly displaced and facing acute shortages of food and medicine, aid agencies say.
The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which, according to Israeli estimates, killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.
