CAIRO, July 8. /TASS/. The Israeli military has called on Palestinians who are temporarily or permanently living in the western districts of Gaza City to leave their homes at once and head to the central part of the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Avihai Edri said.
Residents of several neighborhoods in the west of the enclave's administrative capital (Rimal, Sabra and Tel al-Hawa), as well as several other neighborhoods adjacent to them, should "immediately evacuate to humanitarian zones" located inside Deir al-Balah city (the central Gaza Strip). Edri published the text of the warning on his X page in Arabic and accompanied it with a map of the neighborhoods the residents of which will be at risk if they do not leave.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 people hostage. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas military and political wings and free all hostages. In late November 2023, a temporary humanitarian ceasefire was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which lasted for a week. During this time, 110 hostages were released, according to Israel. On December 1, the ceasefire was violated and hostilities resumed, continuing to this day.