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Gaza Strip evacuations
During the Gaza war, the Israeli military ordered mass evacuations in Gaza, which the IDF said were to minimize civilian casualties in its war against Hamas, resulting in one of the largest displacements of Palestinians since 1948. On 13 October 2023, just one week after Hamas' attack on Israel, Israel instructed 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza, including those in Gaza City, to evacuate within 24 hours. This evacuation triggered a humanitarian crisis, which Palestinians (and some Israelis) have compared to the Nakba of 1948.
Israel's ground invasion of Gaza began on 27 October 2023. By early November 2024, around 800,000 to 1 million Gazans had relocated to the southern part of the Strip, while 350,000 to 400,000 remained in the north. Evacuees described the perilous journey as filled with fear and insecurity, citing attacks by the Israeli military and the sight of corpses along the evacuation routes. Even after reaching the south, evacuees faced continued bombings, leaving no truly safe place in Gaza.
The crisis intensified on 1 December 2023, when Israel began issuing evacuation orders throughout the entire Gaza Strip, dividing it into 620 zones and pushing a majority of Palestinians into an area one-third the territory's size. By mid-2024, close to two-thirds of Gaza's population had been relocated into less than one-fifth of the Strip, with additional evacuation orders placing 83 percent of the entire region under displacement directives by July. By August 2024, Israel's orders became so frequent that some residents stopped complying, believing no part of Gaza was safer than any other, while others could not comply due to overcrowding in designated "safe zones." In October 2024, forced evacuations in the besieged northern Gaza intensified fears that Israel was actively implementing aspects of the "generals' plan" to clear northern Gaza of Palestinians.
These forced evacuations have drawn severe criticism globally, with legal experts, human rights organizations, and diplomats condemning them as war crimes and crimes against humanity. South Africa has referenced these evacuations in its genocide case against Israel.
On 14 October 2023, Israel ordered the evacuation of 22 hospitals in northern Gaza. The WHO described the order as a "death sentence" for the sick and wounded. Doctors Without Borders issued a statement calling the order "outrageous," "an attack on medical care and on humanity," and condemned it "in the strongest possible terms." The World Health Organisation released a plea requesting Israel to rescind the orders, noting the extreme difficulty moving patients in critical care, the depletion of medical supplies, and that "the four Ministry of Health hospitals in south Gaza are already beyond capacity". Similar statements were issued by UNICEF and IRC. The WHO expressed concern about the evacuation order sent to the al-Quds Hospital in Gaza.
On 29 October 2023, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, described reports from the Palestinian Red Crescent that the al-Quds hospital had received an urgent evacuation warning and notice that it was "going to be bombarded" as "deeply concerning." He reiterated that it was "impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives."
Doctors across northern Gaza stated they were unable to follow Israel's evacuation order, since their patients, including newborns in the ICU, would die. On Monday 16 October 2023, Israel ordered the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, and the rest of northern Gaza, to evacuate. Because of insufficient beds in the southern Gaza Strip and no means of transporting patients, such as newborns in incubators or patients on ventilators, the evacuation orders were widely regarded as impossible to comply with. On 17 October 2023, a widely condemned explosion in the al-Ahli courtyard resulted in significant fatalities.
On 10 November 2023, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Al Shifa hospital, noted that despite Israeli bombings, medical staff would stay with patients until the "last moment." Abu Salmiya stated, "There is a war against hospitals... this has never happened in any war." On 12 November 2023, the IDF announced that it was enabling a safe passage from Al-Shifa, Rantisi, and Nasser hospitals, and opened and secured an additional one to help people to evacuate to the south. On 13 November, however, the Gaza Health Ministry stated thousands of patients were unable to evacuate, after Israel's military encircled health facilities.
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Gaza Strip evacuations
During the Gaza war, the Israeli military ordered mass evacuations in Gaza, which the IDF said were to minimize civilian casualties in its war against Hamas, resulting in one of the largest displacements of Palestinians since 1948. On 13 October 2023, just one week after Hamas' attack on Israel, Israel instructed 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza, including those in Gaza City, to evacuate within 24 hours. This evacuation triggered a humanitarian crisis, which Palestinians (and some Israelis) have compared to the Nakba of 1948.
Israel's ground invasion of Gaza began on 27 October 2023. By early November 2024, around 800,000 to 1 million Gazans had relocated to the southern part of the Strip, while 350,000 to 400,000 remained in the north. Evacuees described the perilous journey as filled with fear and insecurity, citing attacks by the Israeli military and the sight of corpses along the evacuation routes. Even after reaching the south, evacuees faced continued bombings, leaving no truly safe place in Gaza.
The crisis intensified on 1 December 2023, when Israel began issuing evacuation orders throughout the entire Gaza Strip, dividing it into 620 zones and pushing a majority of Palestinians into an area one-third the territory's size. By mid-2024, close to two-thirds of Gaza's population had been relocated into less than one-fifth of the Strip, with additional evacuation orders placing 83 percent of the entire region under displacement directives by July. By August 2024, Israel's orders became so frequent that some residents stopped complying, believing no part of Gaza was safer than any other, while others could not comply due to overcrowding in designated "safe zones." In October 2024, forced evacuations in the besieged northern Gaza intensified fears that Israel was actively implementing aspects of the "generals' plan" to clear northern Gaza of Palestinians.
These forced evacuations have drawn severe criticism globally, with legal experts, human rights organizations, and diplomats condemning them as war crimes and crimes against humanity. South Africa has referenced these evacuations in its genocide case against Israel.
On 14 October 2023, Israel ordered the evacuation of 22 hospitals in northern Gaza. The WHO described the order as a "death sentence" for the sick and wounded. Doctors Without Borders issued a statement calling the order "outrageous," "an attack on medical care and on humanity," and condemned it "in the strongest possible terms." The World Health Organisation released a plea requesting Israel to rescind the orders, noting the extreme difficulty moving patients in critical care, the depletion of medical supplies, and that "the four Ministry of Health hospitals in south Gaza are already beyond capacity". Similar statements were issued by UNICEF and IRC. The WHO expressed concern about the evacuation order sent to the al-Quds Hospital in Gaza.
On 29 October 2023, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, described reports from the Palestinian Red Crescent that the al-Quds hospital had received an urgent evacuation warning and notice that it was "going to be bombarded" as "deeply concerning." He reiterated that it was "impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives."
Doctors across northern Gaza stated they were unable to follow Israel's evacuation order, since their patients, including newborns in the ICU, would die. On Monday 16 October 2023, Israel ordered the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, and the rest of northern Gaza, to evacuate. Because of insufficient beds in the southern Gaza Strip and no means of transporting patients, such as newborns in incubators or patients on ventilators, the evacuation orders were widely regarded as impossible to comply with. On 17 October 2023, a widely condemned explosion in the al-Ahli courtyard resulted in significant fatalities.
On 10 November 2023, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Al Shifa hospital, noted that despite Israeli bombings, medical staff would stay with patients until the "last moment." Abu Salmiya stated, "There is a war against hospitals... this has never happened in any war." On 12 November 2023, the IDF announced that it was enabling a safe passage from Al-Shifa, Rantisi, and Nasser hospitals, and opened and secured an additional one to help people to evacuate to the south. On 13 November, however, the Gaza Health Ministry stated thousands of patients were unable to evacuate, after Israel's military encircled health facilities.