New wave of mass displacement as Palestinians flee Israeli assault on Gaza City
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 09 September 2025 5:05 PM
A constant stream of Palestinians has fled to the central southern Gaza Strip in the latest wave of mass displacement as Israel intensified its assault on the besieged territory's urban hub.
Local media reported on Tuesday that some of those forced to leave Gaza City traveled on trucks and tractor-pulled trailers piled high with people and household belongings.
The Israeli military has told Palestinians to head to a so-called "humanitarian zone" in the southern coastal area of al-Mawasi.
The United Nations estimates that nearly a million people live in Gaza City and its surroundings, the coastal enclave's largest urban center.
In a statement, Gaza's Government Media Office said that most of the city's residents are refusing to leave their homes as the Israeli army "attempts to carry out the crime of forced displacement in violation of all international laws."
The office added that some people who left Gaza City for al-Mawasi in the south were forced to return due to worsening living conditions in the south.
The spokesman for Gaza's civil defense agency, Mahmud Bassal, stated that "there are no basic necessities for life - no shelter, no space for tents, no food, and no drinking water" in the central and southern areas of the besieged territory.
Israel designated al-Mawasi as a "safe zone" but has attacked the area at least 109 times, killing more than 2,000 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said that the Gaza Strip is being emptied of its forcibly starved population.
"There is no safe place in Gaza, let alone a humanitarian zone. It is a large and growing camp concentrating hungry Palestinians in despair," Lazzarini said in a statement.
"Warnings of famine have fallen on deaf ears," he stated, asking whether the same fate awaits the deepening catastrophe in Gaza City.
"End the impunity before atrocities become the new norm," the UN official added.
As Israel's genocidal war in Gaza rages on, at least 35 Palestinians were killed in fresh airstrikes since dawn.
In the latest attacks, the Israeli army targeted Gaza City's Salam Tower and Al-Ruya Tower, multi-story buildings sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians.
The attacks on residential towers in Gaza have displaced dozens of families, many left on the streets without shelter or basic necessities," UNRWA said on X.
The US-Israeli genocide in Gaza began in October 2023. The death toll since then stands at over 64,500. More than 163,000 others have been injured.
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