Israel Issues Evacuation Order for New Area in Gaza

The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for a new area of central Gaza, causing panic among Palestinians afraid that Israel was set to expand its ground invasion of the enclave.

Many Palestinians have already been displaced several times from other parts of the enclave and had sought refuge in the area in central Gaza that is now marked for evacuation. The area has remained largely intact during the devastating 21-month Israeli campaign.

It was not immediately clear if the evacuation notice for parts of the city of Deir Al-Balah portended an imminent expansion of Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip or was meant as a pressure tactic to wrest concessions from Hamas in the sluggish negotiations for a cease-fire.

More than 57,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been killed during the war, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The war was ignited by a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage.

Since the Hamas-led attack, Israeli ground forces have largely refrained from operating in a swath of central Gaza, including in Deir Al-Balah. The military has been worried that doing so could endanger remaining hostages who are believed to be held there, according to Israeli analysts.

Terrified Palestinians in Deir Al-Balah were trying to quickly find alternative accommodation, said Abdelhalim Awad, a local bakery owner.

“These are already areas packed with tent encampments,” Mr. Awad said. “People are wondering where else they can even go,” he added.

Mr. Awad’s home is just north of where the Israeli military has ordered people to leave and his bakery is in the evacuation zone. He said he feared the area where he lives may be next.

“This might be part of the negotiations — or the army might invade tomorrow,” he said. “There’s a lot of fear. We don’t know what will happen.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli organization that advocates for the hostages and their families, also expressed alarm over the military’s announcement.

“Can anyone promise us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?” the group, said in a statement, adding, “For the hostages, this is not a ‘card’ in negotiations, but a tangible and immediate danger to their fate.”

About 50 captives remain in Gaza, of whom about 20 are believed to be alive, according to the Israeli government. Hamas officials have said that their captors are under orders to kill the hostages should Israeli troops close in on them.

Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said this month that the military campaign, which resumed in mid-March, ending a two-month cease-fire, had created the conditions for another truce. He added that the military now controls about 75 percent of the Palestinian coastal territory.

Israeli troops have divided the enclave into sections crisscrossed by corridors under full military control, limiting movement. The military said it was ready to redeploy if a cease-fire were achieved, or to expand its activities if the negotiations were to fail.

Under pressure from the Trump administration, negotiators have been discussing a phased deal that would usher in an initial, 60-day pause in fighting; allow for the release of about half the living hostages and the remains of some of the deceased in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel; and pave the way for talks toward a permanent cease-fire.

Myra Noveck contributed reporting from Jerusalem.