On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces ordered Palestinians to evacuate parts of central Gaza after carrying out nightly raids on Hamas strongholds in the area, the second time in the past week that they have been forced to evacuate.
The new orders affect Palestinians living in the Alma’azi refugee camp in central Gaza and in the areas east of Deir al-Balah.
Everyone was told to be evacuated to humanitarian zones.
At least 36 people were killed in the Israeli air strikes, but it is unclear whether Hamas leaders were specifically targeted.
The renewed evacuations, which indicate impending air strikes, came after the United Nations said 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people had been displaced by successive evacuation orders in the ongoing war against the terror group that began on October 7.
The Israeli military confirmed the loss of three soldiers, including two killed in clashes in Gaza City on Friday.
The third soldier was killed by Hamas members, according to the Israeli military.
The new evacuation orders came shortly after the arrival of a Hamas delegation in Cairo, where they are hoping for a resumption of stalled ceasefire talks.
Separately, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown landed in Jordan on Saturday for an unannounced visit, where he will reportedly meet with politicians to discuss ways to avoid a renewed escalation of tensions that could lead to a larger conflict.
Given growing fears of retaliation from Iran, Brown is also expected to travel to Israel and Egypt to meet with their military leadership.
Meanwhile, former hostages from October 7 and relatives of the prisoners remaining in the Gaza Strip have pleaded with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign an agreement to release their relatives.
Netanyahu, confronted with this at a meeting on Friday, said there was no agreement on the table that could be signed.
In a leaked audio recording of the meeting, one of the hostage’s daughters told Netanyahu: “You can be remembered as the one who made the country a better place or as the one who wreaked havoc here. You are the prime minister and you are responsible for the kidnapped people, not Hamas and no one else. You must reach an agreement that will bring all the kidnapped people into the country.”
With post wires
