'A Living Hell': Desperate Gazans Flee Yet Again After Latest Israeli Evacuation Orders

Israel's U.S.-armed military struck another devastating blow to Gaza's increasingly weary, sick, and starving population on Wednesday by issuing evacuation orders for parts of Deir al-Balah, a city in the center of the enclave that was previously deemed a "safe zone."

Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian group known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), expressed outrage at Israel's latest forced evacuation of Palestinian civilians, many of whom have been displaced multiple times since last October. In the wake of the new orders, many Palestinians—children among them—were seen fleeing on foot with whatever belongings they could carry.

The forcible transfer of civilians is a crime against humanity under international law.

"The continuous forced displacement of people is inhumane," MSF project coordinator Jacob Granger said in a statement. "People have no belongings left, nowhere left to go. There is no room to put tents up. The overcrowding, severe lack of water, and minimal sanitation services are fueling the spread of diseases. We are unable to keep up with the overwhelming needs."

Julie Faucon, a medical coordinator with MSF, said the group's teams in Gaza "are seeing an increase in skin conditions such as scabies" as Israel's siege and relentless bombing force Palestinians to shelter in unsanitary, overcrowded areas of the strip. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Gaza's so-called "humanitarian zone"—which in reality is anything but—has shrunk to just 11% of the enclave.

"With the constant bombardments forcing people to seek shelter in a shrinking space," said Faucon, "conditions are worsening and diseases will continue to spread, impacting the most vulnerable, such as children."

An MSF radio operator who was displaced by Israel's latest evacuation orders said he and his family "are dismantling the tent and packing our things."

"My children are gathering their toys and belongings so they don't get lost," said Khamis Amir. "We don’t know where to go. When will this war end?"

As the prospect of a lasting cease-fire appears increasingly remote—with the U.S. ceding to demands from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that are nonstarters for Hamas—the humanitarian emergency on the ground in Gaza continues to intensify amid ongoing Israeli bombings that are wiping out entire families.

Louise Wateridge, a senior communications officer for UNRWA, told the BBC on Wednesday that Gaza families "just do not know what to do."

"The frontline is near everybody," said Wateridge, who offered a horrifying account of the humanitarian situation in the besieged strip. "It's a war on children. All we see here is children dying, children being killed."

"The hospitals reek of blood; you can taste the blood in the air," she continued. "It's just a living hell."

UNRWA's Scott Anderson offered a similarly stark assessment of on-the-ground conditions in Gaza, telling CNN on Wednesday that "it's very disheartening when you see children looking through garbage trying to find something they can sell or eat."

Anderson also pointed to the alarming possibility of a mass polio outbreak in Gaza and noted that vaccination efforts have been made extremely difficult by the Israeli military's near-constant attacks and blockade.

Jude Senkungu, the International Rescue Committee's emergency health coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement Thursday that "the news of polio in Gaza should be an alarm bell that more infectious diseases are on the way."

"To prevent this public health crisis from leading to more preventable deaths, the vaccination campaign must be accompanied by a permanent and lasting cease-fire, and scaled-up humanitarian aid into Gaza," said Senkungu. "This requires safe and unobstructed access into and within Gaza through all crossing points for vaccinations, associated equipment such as cold chain storage, and specialist staff."

Al Jazeera reported Thursday that "the Israeli army is starting a new military incursion in the eastern areas" of Deir al-Balah, forcing families to seek out "any empty space of land to set up their makeshift tents despite the lack of humanitarian resources, including food and water."

UNRWA has said many of Gaza's water wells are located in areas newly evacuated by the Israeli military.

"We need to emphasize the fact that we have continued to hear loud explosions from last night until this morning, where the Israeli artillery units and fighter jets continue to target residential squares and key civil infrastructure in the city of Deir al-Balah," wrote Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from the area.

"The grim reality," he added, "is that bombardment is not only here in the central areas, but it continues to expand to the northern parts and to the south, where the military operations are still ongoing in Rafah and in the city of Khan Younis."