People in Gaza stuck in endless nightmare of death, destruction: UNRWA
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Evacuation orders were issued on Friday for the region north of the southern city of Khan Younis and the eastern section of Deir al-Balah.
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Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on Gaza flee from Hamad City following an evacuation order by the Israeli occupation to leave parts of the southern area of Khan Younis on August 11, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli occupation military has ordered Palestinians to leave regions in southern and central Gaza, narrowing the area previously designated as a "safe zone", despite "Israel's" participation in the Doha talks for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The orders were issued on Friday for the region north of the southern city of Khan Younis and the eastern section of Deir al-Balah, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge from the Israeli bombardment in other parts of the besieged Gaza Strip, as they fled to areas the Israeli military had designated as "safe".
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) posted on X: “Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go. People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale."
#Gaza: New evacuation orders have been issued by Israeli authorities, even inside the so-called “humanitarian zone”.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 16, 2024
Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go. People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale. pic.twitter.com/Myi6z6Ix87
"Why did (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu send a delegation to the talks while we are being killed here?" Palestinian resident Mohammed al-Balwi stated as bombs continued to rain down on Gaza.
In addition to the thousands of killings and man-made starvation in Gaza, "Israel" has been implementing a policy of launching artillery and airstrikes shortly after ordering the evacuation of areas it had previously designated as "safe" humanitarian zones. This practice is not an isolated event, as multiple evacuation orders have been issued over the past ten months.
One displaced Palestinian, Munadil Abu Younes, once recalled how he was reading the news on his phone when he was startled by yet another evacuation order from Israeli occupation forces.
IOF ordered thousands to "evacuate" on July 27, including from the area where he was taking refuge. His eighth displacement was unlike any he had experienced before.
“Israeli forces told us about the evacuation order as they entered the area,” he told The Guardian at the time. “We barely had time to collect our things, most people fled without taking anything. During previous evacuation orders they gave us a day or two, but this time we didn’t even have half an hour.”
For the thousands who escape the Israeli bombs and artillery fire, each displacement brings in new challenges. With nowhere to run to, many spend the nights sleeping in the open, unable to find a place in the shattered homes that remained in Gaza.
No breakthrough in Doha talks, 'Israel' clinging to its stance: Source
The Doha negotiations did not yield any developments as “Israel” is clinging to its positions, a senior Palestinian Resistance official told Al Mayadeen.
Moreover, a senior Hamas source pointed out that what the movement's leadership was informed of Friday regarding the results of the Doha ceasefire meetings does not include a commitment to what was agreed upon on July 2.
This follows a statement that senior officials from the governments of the United States, Qatar, and Egypt will reconvene in Cairo before the end of next week with an aim to conclude a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and "Israel".
Commenting on the talks, officials told AFP that Hamas will not accept "new conditions" from "Israel" in the proposal put forward during the talks in Doha.
An informed source highlighted that as part of the Israeli obstruction maneuver, "Israel" introduced "new" conditions, which include keeping troops inside Gaza along its border with Egypt, while Hamas, according to the source, demands "a complete ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Strip, a normal return of the displaced and a (prisoner) exchange deal" without restrictions.
"Israel" also demanded veto rights on the prisoners and detainees to be exchanged, as well as the ability to deport some of them rather than send them back to Gaza, the source said.
Meanwhile, the trilateral statement on Friday confirmed that over the last 48 hours in Doha, senior American, Qatari, and Egyptian officials engaged in intensive talks as mediators aiming to conclude an agreement.
