Cairo/Gaza: Israel issued a new evacuation order for Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip late Sunday, forcing many families to flee, as forces aimed to crack down on the militant group Hamas and others active in the area. In recent days, Israel has issued multiple evacuation orders across Gaza, the most since the start of the 10-month war, which has drawn outrage from Palestinians, the United Nations and aid officials over the reduced humanitarian zones and the absence of safe zones.
Deir al-Balah municipality says the Israeli evacuation order has displaced 250,000 people so far.
At least seven Palestinians were killed in an attack by Israeli forces on Monday, medics said. Two died in Deir al-Balah, home to around one million people, two in a school in al-Nusirat camp and three in Rafah, a southern city 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 people had sought refuge for fear of bombardment.
The area covered by the hospital evacuation notice is close.
Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said in a statement on Sunday night in X that the explosion caused panic about 250 meters (820 feet) from the MSF-supported al-Aqsa hospital.
“As a result, MSF is considering whether to temporarily suspend wound care while it tries to maintain life-saving treatment.”
Of the approximately 650 patients, only 100 remain in hospitals, seven in the intensive care unit, citing Gaza's health ministry.
“This situation is unacceptable. Al Aqsa has been operating beyond capacity for weeks due to a lack of options for patients. All warring parties must respect the hospital as well as patients' access to medical care,” it added.
Diplomatic impasse
Sawsan Abu Afesh said she and her children have now been displaced 11 times.
“I have left half of my children near my furniture and I am now with my little ones and my daughter, only God can help us… I have no money for transport. I go to area 17 where my family lives. My feet. I took my children. And there are three people left. I don't know where,” said the woman.
The mediators, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, have so far failed to close the gap between Israel and Hamas, with little hope of an end to the war, whose leaders have traded blame for the shortage. Agreement.
Neither Hamas nor Israel agreed to many of the deals presented by mediators at talks in Cairo on Sunday, two Egyptian security sources said.
However, a senior US official described the talks as “constructive”, saying they were conducted in a spirit on all sides to reach a “final and workable agreement”.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the group rejected new terms made by Israel during the talks, which the group did not participate in, adding that US comments on the impending cease-fire agreement were false and aimed at meeting election objectives.
US President Joe Biden and his administration have faced growing opposition in the US for supporting Israel ahead of the November election.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry. The crowded enclave has been devastated and its 2.3 million people have been displaced multiple times and are facing acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies said.
The war began with an October 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, in which Israeli artillery killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.
