Gaza residents will be provided with tents and other shelter equipment starting from tomorrow ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave "to ensure their safety," the Israeli military has said.
It comes days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave's largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of Gaza, which is home to about 2.2 million people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that before launching the offensive, the civilian population will be evacuated to what he described as "safe zones" from Gaza City, which he called Hamas' last stronghold.
The shelter equipment will be transferred via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza by the United Nations and other international relief organisations after being inspected by defence ministry personnel, the military said.
The UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Israeli announcement, however, it warned on Thursday that thousands of families already enduring appalling humanitarian conditions could be pushed over the edge if the Gaza City plan moves ahead.
Palestinian and United Nations officials have said no place in the enclave is safe, including areas in southern Gaza where Israel has been ordering residents to move to.
The military declined to comment when asked whether the shelter equipment was intended for Gaza City's population, which is estimated at around one million people presently, and whether the site to which they will be relocated in southern Gaza would be the area of Rafah, which borders Egypt.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said plans for the new offensive were still being formulated.
The Palestinian militant faction Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, said the military's announcement "as part of its brutal attack to occupy Gaza City, is a blatant and brazen mockery of international conventions".
However, Israeli forces have already increased operations on the outskirts of Gaza City over the past week.
Residents in the neighborhoods of Zeitorun and Shejaia have reported heavy Israeli aerial and tank fire which has destroyed many houses.
The Israeli military said yesterday that it had begun a new operation in Zeitun to locate explosives, destroy tunnels and kill militants in the area.
Israel's occupation of Gaza, including any planned expansions of offensives, is illegal under international law.
The Israeli government's plans to expand the war have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks have killed at least 36 people as it warned that intensifying strikes on a Gaza City neighbourhood were placing its remaining residents in danger.
Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said conditions in the Zeitun neighbourhood were rapidly deteriorating with residents having little to no access to food and water amid heavy Israeli bombardment.
He said that about 50,000 people were estimated to be in that area of Gaza City, "the majority of whom are without food or water" and lacking "the basic necessities of life".
Ghassan Kashko, 40, who shelters with his family at a school building in the neighbourhood, said: "We don't know the taste of sleep."
He said airstrikes and tank shelling were causing "explosions ... that don't stop".
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The UN human rights office said at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a jump of several hundred since its last published figure at the beginning of August.
"Since 27 May, and as of 13 August, we have recorded that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, 994 in the vicinity of GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) sites and 766 along the routes of supply convoys," the agency's office for the Palestinian territories said in a statement.
"Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," it added.
That compares with a figure of 1,373 killed the office reported on 1 August.
UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.
Israeli attacks have killed at least 61,827 Palestinians in the current stage of the war, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
Hamas's October 2023 attack which triggered the current stage of the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Protests calling for a hostage release and an end to the war are expected throughout Israel tomorrow, with many businesses and universities saying they will strike for the day.
Negotiations to secure a US-backed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release ended in deadlock last month and mediators Egypt and Qatar have been trying to revive them.
Accreditation: AFP, Reuters
