The Israeli military has issued an urgent directive for all residents of Gaza City to evacuate southward to the central Gaza Strip amid escalating military operations in the region. Leaflets dropped by aircraft instructed “everyone in Gaza City” to vacate the area, described as a “dangerous combat zone,” using designated safe routes leading to shelters in Deir al-Balah and al-Zawaida.

The United Nations has expressed deep concern over these evacuation orders, marking the second time since the conflict began that Gaza City as a whole has been asked to evacuate.

Over the past two weeks, Israeli forces have re-entered several districts where they believe Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters have regrouped since the start of the year. Hamas has stated that Israel’s renewed military activity is jeopardizing negotiations for a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal, which resumed in Qatar. These talks involve intelligence chiefs from Egypt, the US, and Israel, as well as the Prime Minister of Qatar.

There are estimated to be more than a quarter of a million people still living in Gaza City. In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops had “conducted a counterterrorism operation” overnight against Hamas and PIJ fighters operating inside a UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City. The IDF reported that it had opened a “defined corridor to facilitate the evacuation of civilians” from the area before entering the structure and “eliminating terrorists in close-quarters combat.” There was no immediate comment from UNRWA.

The IDF also claimed to have killed dozens of fighters in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya district and dismantled an underground tunnel route over the past day. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, stated that 60% of Hamas fighters had been killed or wounded since Israel’s offensive began.

On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office expressed its alarm at the IDF orders for residents to evacuate to “areas where Israeli military operations are ongoing and where civilians continue to be killed and injured.” The office also warned that the Deir al-Balah area was already severely overcrowded with displaced Palestinians and had limited infrastructure and humanitarian assistance.

The Israeli military launched its campaign in Gaza in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 38,295 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, with 14,680 children, women, and elderly people identified among the dead by the end of April. These figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.