The Israeli army is calling on more Palestinian residents of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip to flee.<\/p>\n
People in four more neighbourhoods should go to a designated safe zone established near the Mediterranean coast, an army spokesman said on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n
The United Nations, aid agencies and Palestinians say it is impossible to create safe zones in Gaza due to widespread fierce fighting and ongoing Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n
The Israeli army spokesman also announced four-hour tactical pauses in fighting on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Deir al-Balah in the central part of the Gaza Strip and in Rafah on the border with Egypt.<\/p>\n
These pauses should should make it easier to get aid supplies into Gaza, the army said.<\/p>\n
Aid organizations warn that Gazans could face famine conditions if more emergency food assistance is not provided to them.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the war more than three and a half months ago, the military had called on the Palestinian civilian population in the north of the Gaza Strip to move to the south for their own safety.<\/p>\n
However, following the expansion of the ground offensive into the south, people were once again forced to flee their places of refuge.<\/p>\n
According to the UN Human Rights Office, thousands of people have fled to Rafah after fierce fighting in Khan Younis. Rafah is now home to more than 1.3 million people, more than half of the Gaza Strip’s total population of 2.2 million.<\/p>\n
Israel believes senior Hamas officials are hiding in tunnels in Khan Younis and that militants are keeping Israeli hostages in the extensive underground network, too.<\/p>\n
The army announced an expansion of its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip at the start of the week.<\/p>\n