Gaza, Jul 29 (IANS): Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from the Bureij refugee camp and its outskirts in the central Gaza Strip following an Israeli evacuation order, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA has reported.
Many evacuees headed to Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat, also in central Gaza, WAFA added.
Israeli military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said in a statement on Sunday that in the wake of the launching of rocket shells by "terrorist organisations" from among the residents of the Bureij and Shuhada areas, the Israeli army will "work forcefully against the terrorist elements that are active there", Xinhua news agency reported.
Adraee urged residents in parts of Bureij and Shuhada to evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, for their safety.
Tens of thousands of people are experiencing new waves of internal displacement across Gaza due to the issuance of evacuation orders by the Israeli military and intensified hostilities, according to an update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Friday.
Between July 22 and 25, about 12,600 people have already been displaced from the Bureij refugee camp to the Maghazi and Nuseirat refugee camps, all in Deir al Balah, the update said.
Currently, only 14 per cent of areas in the Gaza Strip are not under evacuation orders, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said on social media platform X on Sunday.
"Every other day, the Israeli Authorities issue these orders forcing people to flee, creating havoc and panic. Quite often, people have just a few hours to pack whatever they can and start all over again, mostly on foot or on a crowded donkey cart for those who can afford it," Lazzarini said.
"Almost everyone in Gaza has been impacted by these orders. Many were forced to flee on average once a month since the war began nine months ago," Lazzarini added.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,324, the Gaza-based health authorities said on Sunday.