Israel calls on all Gaza residents to leave the city
The flyers were addressed to "All in the City of Gaza" and showed escape routes to the south. The warning came after three previous orders for partial evacuation.
The latest clashes had forced an additional 350,000 civilians to flee, Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), told the news agency AFP before the flyer distribution. "There is absolutely no safe place in Gaza," he said.
In the city, Israeli troops were engaging in intense battles against fighters from the radical Islamic Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. The Israeli army reportedly killed militants at a UNRWA site in Gaza, where weapons were also found.
A UNRWA spokesperson told AFP it was difficult to know if people had sought refuge in the Hilfswerk's compound because "we have no regular access to Gaza."
In the past four days, fatal attacks had struck four schools in the Gaza Strip used as shelters. These attacks caused international outrage.
The Israeli army reportedly investigated information about an attack that killed at least 29 people in a school in southern Palestine. Dozens of others were injured in the attack on the entrance of a school in Abassan, east of Khan Younis.
The German government condemned the Israeli-attributed attack as "unacceptable." "Civilians, including children, must not be caught in the crossfire," the German Foreign Office wrote on its online service on Wednesday. "The repeated attacks by the Israeli army on schools must stop." The French Foreign Ministry in Paris also described the attacks on schools in the Gaza Strip as "unacceptable" and called for a comprehensive investigation.
The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip reported that the majority of the casualties were women and children. AFP footage showed the injured being taken to the nearby Nasser Hospital.
A survivor of the attack, Mohammed Sukkar, reported that rockets were fired without warning at a group of civilians. "They were not part of the resistance or armed; they were all civilians."
An "terrorist" from Hamas was reportedly killed by the Israeli army during the attack on October 7. The affected school was near the target.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 with a major Hamas attack on Israel. According to Israeli reports, 1195 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage in the Gazan territories.
As a response, Israel has been waging military operations massively in the Gaza Strip since then. According to reports from the Hamas-controlled health ministry, which cannot be independently verified, over 38,290 people have been killed since October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant stated on Wednesday that 60% of Hamas fighters had been "eliminated or injured" and that most of the 24 Hamas battalions had been dismantled. He did not specify the exact death toll in parliament but confirmed the goal of eliminating Hamas and returning the hostages to Israel.
- The UNRWA, led by Philippe Lazzarini, launched a leaflet Campaign in Gaza, advising the inhabitants to evacuate towards the south due to safety concerns.
- AFP reported that the Federal Government urged the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of the children during their operations in Gaza.
- Amidst the ongoing clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters, AFP reported the abandonment of some UNRWA sites due to the presence of weapons.
- In response to the leaflet campaign, a UNRWA spokesperson mentioned that it was unclear if any inhabitants had sought refuge in the AA's (Association of Germans Abroad) compound due to lack of regular access to Gaza.
- The AFP covered the abandonment of several schools in the Gaza Strip following fatal attacks, causing international concern and calls for investigations from Germany and France.
- In light of the repeated attacks on schools in Gaza, the Israeli army is reportedly investigating an attack attributed to them that killed at least 29 people and injured dozens in a school in southern Palestine.
- Following the warning leaflets distributed by UNRWA, the Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant announced that 60% of Hamas fighters had been eliminated or injured during military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
