The government media office in Gaza announced that the Israeli army is cramming about 1.7 million displaced Palestinians into a narrow area that does not exceed one-tenth of the area of the Gaza Strip.

The office said in a statement: "The Israeli occupation army is deliberately stifling 1.7 million Palestinian civilians and cramming them into a narrow area that does not exceed one-tenth of the area of the Gaza Strip."

It added: "The army continues to commit the most horrific crimes against civilians in Gaza, including the crime of forced displacement and forced displacement of more than 1.7 million Palestinian civilians."

He continued: "The occupation is forcing citizens to forcibly move and leave their homes and residential areas under the threat of killing, bombing and internationally prohibited weapons, which is a crime against humanity."

He explained that "this confirms beyond any doubt that the occupation is deliberately and according to an organized plan to strangle civilians and Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip in a very narrow area that does not exceed one-tenth of the area of the Gaza Strip."

The international community, international and UN organizations, and countries of the world were called upon to "pressure the occupation and the US administration to stop the war of genocide and stop the crimes against humanity committed by the "Israeli" occupation army against civilians in the Gaza Strip."

South of the Gaza Valley

The office reviewed in its statement a timeline of Israel's plan to strangle 1.7 million civilians south of the Gaza Valley in an area no more than one-tenth of the Gaza Strip:

- Early November 2023, Israel claimed that the southern area was a safe humanitarian area of 230 square kilometers, which was equivalent to 63% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, and included agricultural, service, commercial, and economic lands, roads, and streets.

- Early December 2023, Israel reduced the areas it claimed were safe humanitarian after invading Khan Yunis to 140 square kilometers, representing 38.3% of the total area of the Strip, and including agricultural, cemeteries, service, commercial, and economic lands, roads, and streets.

- In early May 2024, Israel reduced the area it claims to be a safe humanitarian area to 79 square kilometers, representing 20% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, including agricultural lands, cemeteries, services, commercial and economic lands, roads and streets.

- In mid-June 2024, Israel reduced the area it claims to be a safe humanitarian area to 60 square kilometers, representing 16.4% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, including agricultural lands, cemeteries, services, commercial and economic lands, roads and streets.

- In mid-July 2024, Israel reduced the area it claims to be a safe humanitarian area to 48 square kilometers, representing 13.15% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, including agricultural lands, cemeteries, services, commercial and economic lands, roads and streets.

- In early August 2024, Israel reduced the area it claims to be a safe humanitarian zone to 40 square kilometers, representing 10.9% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, and includes agricultural lands, cemeteries, services, commercial and economic lands, roads and streets.

- After mid-August, Israel reduced the area it claims to be safe humanitarian lands to 36 square kilometers, representing 9.5% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, and includes agricultural lands, cemeteries, services, commercial and economic lands, roads and streets.

- The Israeli army considers the Gaza and North Gaza governorates not to be among the areas it claims to be "safe humanitarian" areas, in an absolute manner, despite the presence of 700,000 Palestinian civilians in the two governorates.

New orders

On Wednesday, the Israeli army ordered residents and displaced persons in a number of towns in Deir al-Balah to evacuate them in preparation for attacking them, in a new reduction of the areas it claims to be "safe."

In a post with a map attached to it on the X platform, army spokesman Avichay Adraee addressed "all residents and displaced persons in Blocks 129 and 130 in the neighborhoods of Al-Mahta and Deir al-Balah to the south, from Salah al-Din Street to the street marked on the map."

With American support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving about 133,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.

The displaced resort to the homes of their relatives or acquaintances, or go out into the unknown, where they set up their tents in the streets or various shelters, despite the difficult and harsh living conditions, in light of the lack of other alternatives.

The majority of the "humanitarian zone" lacks infrastructure and does not have water or service facilities, given that they are uninhabited areas, and are witnessing health and environmental crises and the spread of diseases and epidemics.

In contempt of the international community, Israel continues the war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.