The Israeli army’s Arabic language spokesperson on Saturday issued new forced displacement orders for several neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, warning of an imminent attack “with great force” in response to alleged Hamas rockets fired at Israel from this area.
Residents in Qizan an-Najjar, Qizan Abu Rashwan, al-Salam, al-Manara, al-Qurain, Maen, al-Batn al-Sameen, Jurt al-Lot, al-Fakhari and the southern neighbourhoods of Bani Suheila were ordered to leave their homes and proceed to al-Mawasi, on Gaza’s sea coast.
The announcement came amid a barrage of drone attacks and artillery shelling on Khan Younis that killed at least two people.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz stated the Morag Corridor effectively turned Rafah into an “Israeli security zone” and added that the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the Strip in two, would also be expanded.
“Willful passage” will be granted for Palestinians who wish to flee Gaza, Katz said in a statement, mentioning again US President Trump’s plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza.
Katz told Gaza’s besieged population he was offering them the “last chance to banish Hamas and release all hostages, stopping the war,” or else Israeli operations will spread to “most of Gaza’s territory”.
Hamas issued a statement accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war despite repeated calls from within Israeli society to halt the conflict.
“The equation is clear: the release of captives in exchange for a cessation of the war. The world accepts it, but Netanyahu rejects it,” it stressed.
“The blood of Gaza’s children and the occupation’s prisoners are victims of Netanyahu’s ambitions to remain in power and to escape prosecution”.
About 2.1 million Palestinians are now squeezed into about one-third of Gaza and no trucks carrying aid, food, cooking gas, or fuel have entered the Strip since Israel reimposed a blockade last month. Katz has publicly stated that, since breaking the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, Israel’s goal has been to apply pressure on the civilian population, the correspondent added.
