A U.N. spokesman said such a movement would turn “what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
Israel’s military has informed the United Nations that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, the U.N. spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said late on Thursday night, adding that such a movement — involving over one million people — would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
“The same order applied to all U.N. staff and those sheltered in U.N. facilities — including schools, health centers and clinics,” Mr. Dujarric said.
The U.N. was told that the marker dividing the north from south was Wadi Gaza, the statement said.
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Friday afternoon in a closed consultation format
While the Demographia report found Gaza City isn’t as packed as the world’s most dense cities, including Dhaka, Bangladesh, which has over 80,000 people per square mile, it’s more crowded than global cities, such as London, and three times more dense than Los Angeles, the most population-dense area in the US, according to the report.
They know it can't be done and they don't care. The rhetoric coming out of their government is pure genocide talk. One of the military guys got furious that anyone cared about Palestinian civilians.
I hope the US doesn't support this or stay silent. We need to have the balls to stand up to allies when they're in the wrong. The world said "not again" to the holocaust and now regularly looks the other way, and it's time countries stop letting this shit happen.
You know the US won’t. The gov’t is too far up it’s own ass and only sees numbers. Israel is profitable to us, and money is the only thing anyone in power gives a shit about. They don’t care that we’re dealing with terrorists, as long as the terrorists make them money.
Never again! Except for Tibetans, Uyghurs, First Nations in boarding schools/their forced sterilization, the Khmer Rouge, Pakistan/India/Bangladesh, North Korea, Rwanda, all the genocides by the Soviets, Bosnia...
Hundreds of millions of lives ended prematurely...
I just want to remind everyone that the only reason you’re not a civilian in gaza right now shitting yourself over the consequences of the actions of violent group who hasn’t held elections since 2006 is just pure birth lottery. Keep that in mind before you say something stupid.
Time for a genocide. And no one's going to stop them. Fucking hell.
Some of my friends have suggested that there might not be a Gaza to fight for independence for in a few years. I didn't believe them, but now it definitely looks more possible...
A tiny group within a population of over 2 million.
Honestly what the fuck are comments like this supposed to mean? You think they deserve to be slaughtered, down to the last child, because of what a small extremist group form the same region did? You know half the people in Gaza are under 18?
Do you think they all voted for this? Hamas took control after netanyahu created and funded them to destabilize the Gaza strip, this is a known fact that they've basically admitted. He made sure they were the only governing body that could e, ist so they could excuse anything they wanted to do to the gazans they keep in an open-air prison.
I hope the FBI or whatever the equivalent in your country is keeps pro-genocide people like you on a watch list.
Israel has fed the growth of Hamas in an effort to tear apart the Palestinian state. Also, Israel has been annexing Palestinian land, and Hamas always follows this with terrorism. There are no good sides in this conflict and nothing that is happening is a surprise. Civies are fucked.
It's insane how with all holocaust talk Israeli have no issues applying the same tactics. Cognative dissonance, religion and nationalism just triumphs over logic huh.
This is bone chilling. I haven't read a headline in a while that's struck the fear of God into me like this. They need to be talked out of it. I worry they're about to do something even worse than the Hamas attack, and that's really saying something.
I worry they’re about to do something even worse than the Hamas attack, and that’s really saying something.
Bro they've already done that with their airstrikes actively engineered to increase, rather than decrease, civilian casualties (I can provide examples if you're curious). Now they're going full Holocaust.
Imagine if some proud boys from the US were attacking Canadian civilians, after Canada has been occasionally striking the US and being quite excessive in its use of force.
Then one day Mexico warns Canada that the proud boys might strike this location this week, so Canada pulls its security and guards, the proud boys attack, Canada loudly yells to everyone in the world "OH NO CANADA IS ATTACKING ME DO YOU GUYS SEE THIS SHIT?"
And then Canada proceeds to bomb the absolute fuck out of EVERY city within 10 miles of the border. And then the refugees that are leaving the cities. And then telling them "hey we promise we won't bomb you if you go this route" and then bomb that route. And sends troops into refugee camps in order to decide who is suddenly a proud boy...
The world, as usual when it comes to Israel though, completely loses its minds.
It's like everyone is so afraid of being seen as a nazi, they won't aim even the tiniest criticism toward a government/military. It strikes me as profoundly racist to conflate every Jewish person with the government of Israel, or that somehow Israel represents all jews. Imagine if I suggested Kenya speaks for all black people...
It’s like everyone is so afraid of being seen as a nazi
You got it backwards. It's not that they are afraid, it's that every Nazi thing you do becomes unimportant if you support Israel and yell "look, I'm not a Nazi, because I support Israel".
That's a huge, huge stimulus for support. Now if you've done Nazi things, Israel is your salvation. And if you haven't done Nazi things cause you're afraid, just get friendly with Israel.
They are basically selling modern day's indulgences.
And Israel, of course, endorses that via its puppet diasporan organizations and their moves like "anything but Holocaust is not a genocide, and if you don't agree, you're a Nazi" or "you can't be Nazi if you're Jewish" and, of course, "if you don't support Israel, you are not Jewish".
There's no use in analogising such a complex situation, it utterly fails to capture the situation or the context. You're also welcome to theorise whether or not Israel deliberately sought the deaths of 2000 citizens just to cleanse Gaza but that's a massive claim for someone not privy to classified knowledge.
This doesn't make any damn sense. No one elected the proudboys to run the entire gov. The Palestinians did with Hamas. You're acting like it's a small group, when it's not. A majority of Palestinians elected Hamas to represent them, and they support it.
Now you can have the debate of is Israel the cause and is this response equal or if this was all a setup to start the war, but don't act like Hamas is a minority and the people don't support them.
It's almost like they've created some type of giant penal colony or ghetto. Keeping people imprisoned in large quantities because of their ethnicity, now I see why America supports Israel. They should get them to do shitty jobs for pennies on the dollar while their in there. Remember it's not slavery if it's inside of a prison.
That's no longer a conjecture, they have already bombed ambulances and convoys trying to flee the north of the city by the route they explicitly told them to use.
What would be the point of this from a non fucked up standpoint? It's not like that would help them get the fuckers who did this. All I can see is that they want to destroy everything if Palestinians somehow could completely comply. The fact that they can't just means Israel wants to kill a bunch of people who are unable to get out.
Obviously anyone who hasn't evacuated is aligned with Hamas and is staying to fight. Obviously anyone running once the ground invasion starts is cowardly Hamas soldiers that are running away from the righteous power of god's chosen. Obviously some of the ones fleeing go away, so carpet bombing the rest of the territory we told Tom to go to is necessary to make sure this doesn't happen again.
It would require movement of all people out of hideouts. Meaning hostages would be visible by surveillance. So they end up cleaning home by home, minimize civilian victims and those that do remain are either hiding or they have to move civilians through surveillance. Win win.
What would be the point of this from a non fucked up standpoint?
I think the bad and good reasons can be true at the same time. Plenty of others list the bad reasons. For the good reasons:
it is unlikely Hamas could evacuate its weaponry, rocket stockpiles and other supplies in 24 hours undetected
so some will be flushed out at which point they can be engaged
others will remain, so having the civilian population leave - even if not completely - it's the best way to reduce collateral deaths and give Hamas as little time to prepare as possible
hostages area likely being held in the north, hence the time pressure to separate as many civilians as possible and isolate Hamas
the crisis would be less of a crisis of the Arab nations actually stepped up to help but none of them want anything to do with Gaza Palestinians...
finally (up to you if this is a good or bad reason) Israel may well intend to bulldoze every building in North Gaza to deny its use to Hamas and it's obviously safer for the population to not be there when it happens. This may increase the chances of the UN / Egypt creating a viable refugee camp inside the Egyptian border which may well be Israel's end game
Last time Israel invaded they spent significant time destroying tunnels. It's dangerous work that leaves them exposed, so the less people around the better.
The cynic in me says that Israel will now say that anyone left is a legit target/Hamas supporter, even though it's completely infeasible for most of the population to get out in time.
Then after a huge number of deaths, once they control northern Gasa, they will say (because of continuing Hamas attacks) that it's not safe to return. (But mysteriously is for Israeli settlers)
This only makes the Palestinians less likely to leave ....
It's going to be a bloodbath. Hopefully afterwards it will have been enough for some kind of pro-peace faction to become popular on both sides.... Not holding my breath though.
If this does go bad (worse) I hope that the international community condems both sides, they need to be encouraged (if not forced) to find a peacefull solution.
The far right in Israel, the ones in control, are the most ironic fascists. Bibi has been intent on slaughtering Palestinians for so long, this is all lip service before the mass murder portion of the genocide.
The conspiracy theorist in me still struggles to believe that Hamas (and maybe/probably Iran) wasn't sniffed out by the Mossad or the IDF. These are two groups considered some of the best in the world at what they do and they've been hawking on Hamas for literally longer than most Palestinians have been alive. I absolutely would believe the Israeli far right would martyr a thousand people to get their 2 million.
If this does go bad (worse) I hope that the international community condems both sides, they need to be encouraged (if not forced) to find a peacefull solution.
They never criticize Israel even for its most extreme actions. Right now they seem to be eagerly queueing up to support Israel's siege and attacks on Gaza and send more weapons, no matter how many civilians it kills. So it's hard to be hopeful that international politicians will hold Israel to a measured response.
I guess I need to add: this is not an expression of support for Hamas and their brutal killings. It shouldn't need to be said, but this is the internet.
I'll try to stick to facts and not mix my opinions in:
The area north of Wadi Gaza contains most of Gaza City, and several outlying neighborhoods.
Best I can tell, the furthest point in the strip is 15km away from that line. Meaning this is requesting civilians to relocate by 5-20km within 24 hours.
Hamas has built an extensive tunnel network underneath Gaza. These tunnels are constructed with reinforced concrete and are used to house both munitions and operational infrastructure.
The US has transferred advanced munitions to Israel.
Now for my personal speculation:
The advanced munitions are bunker busters.
There is a significant risk of buildings collapsing due to the tunnels underneath being destroyed.
The intent is to minimize civilian casualties both from the immediate airstrikes and from potential building collapse.
White phosphorus grenades were used by the US in Vietnam to destroy Viet Cong tunnel complexes as they would burn up all oxygen and suffocate the enemy soldiers sheltering inside.
That's targeting the people inside the tunnel, not the tunnel itself. Since people are probably supposed to return to these areas eventually, I guess Israel would not consider it sufficient to clear the tunnels temporarily. They probably want to destroy them permanently.
If we're going with what the commenter above laid out, then even if Hamas fighters evacuate, their tunnels presumably get collapsed.
Also, I think that might actually be why they gave such a tight deadline. If there isn't enough time for everyone to get out, will Hamas manage to escape, that sort of thing.
I don't think the expectation is that 100% of all civilians will be able to relocate. But at least 600k have already managed to (saw that number on the news and can't find a reference any more...oh well).
I doubt Hamas will manage to relocate large amounts of their ordnance in that timeframe, certainly not with the civilian traffic. At least, not without exposing themselves as a potential target.
So they have the option of moving personnel and mild amounts of equipment, but will need to decide how much of a stand they want to make.
I agree with all of this. The only thing I’d add is that there’s a high possibility of a ground incursion to ensure the destruction of the tunnels.
Given Hamas has no real relevant air defense, they’re just going to use bunker buster type munitions to collapse the tunnels (and the buildings that have entry points). At that point, they can send in ground units to finish. Hamas also has no ground-fighting capability versus armor or artillery, and will be relegated to house-to-house against an enemy that can just call in an artillery or air strike. Hamas also has no path of resupply. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point.
If they’re playing it smart, Israel wil let the ICRC and other aid groups in as soon as they’ve cleared an area and it’s safe for NGOs to conduct aid.
In terms of long term strategy, Israel will need to do more than simply allow NGOs in to conduct aid. Any power vacuum can be dangerous, and giving direct aid will help minimize the chances that a more violent group than Hamas will sieze the opportunity.
Important note to those unfamiliar with the geography when reading this: the part of the Gaza Strip they want evacuated includes the entirety of Gaza City, the most populated city of the Gaza Strip. They are ordering the migration of 1.1 million people into smaller towns and cities to the south, to empty Gaza City. In 24 hours. This would be disastrous even if it was possible. But there are countless factors making it not possible for people to just pick up and leave, much less in 24 hours, including that the primary hospital of the entire Gaza Strip is in the evacuation area, and is full of injured victims of the bombings the IDF has already undertaken. They have also bombed the caravan on primary roadway people are taking out of the city, according to several news sources
They have also bombed the caravan on primary roadway people are taking out of the city, according to several news sources
Fwiw the video that Hamas themselves released shows an explosion that is very much not a missile or artillery. It has a large orange flameball, doesn't leave a crater, leaves windows on the vans intact.
This was most likely a propane IED of which Hamas are known to use. Or a tragic accident (trucks propane tank exploding).
They really can't, though. They'd have to give up their cheap, oppressed labor force. Unless they've finally decided to do that, which would be a real change in their position. They're just going to keep squeezing.
I wish there was a way for normal Israelis to get the same treatment as Gazans so that they have finally seen what is the real root cause of the problem.
The media is extremely opionated and show predominantly the human side of the Israelis and there are almost no stories about the horror in Gaza. That's not exactly independent media.
When I read things like this I always wonder, which media are you consuming? How can anyone who spends even the absolute minimum of time following the news be unaware of the situation in Gaza?
I do consume English media and for example aljazeera. But looking at German media you see that they omitted most of the cruel things Israel did in the last decades. It's all Hamas is so bad (it is) and Israel is going to retaliate now.
I mean, genocide doesn’t seem very in vogue nowadays
It kind of is though?
In the last 3 years I've counted about 6 different conflicts that look like genocides or incipient genocide attempts to me (based on Raphael Lemkin's original definition of the term).
Wait for China to get there first. China doesn't actually give a shit about these people, but if they choose the moment well they'll make the US look like the baddies, and then the Europe/USA will be stuck: withdraw and look like a fool on the world stage or stay put and support genocide.
It speeds up the genocide. Anybody who didn't instantly realize Israel would do a genocide over this has an overly rosy outlook on Israel's position and ambitions in the region. They want to get rid of all the Palestinians (or bring them down to a nice, manageable enslaved population) and fully take over Gaza & WB. They don't want a 2-state solution, they want a 1-state solution, with as few non-Israelies as possible.
The country that spawned as a direct result of the Holocaust is engaged in a genocide of their own. Humans suck.
America is going to be split in 2 conflicts. Now is the perfect time for China, North Korea, and any other enemies to make advances on territory they want.
Most likely blockaded by the Israeli Navy. Gaza is being isolated and besieged right now, that includes the coast. And yes, I notice the racist dog whistle you're throwing. But this is not the place to bring this kind of passive-aggresive arguments.
Israel has to defeat Hamas decisively - there is no alternative.
And quit shitting only on Israel for the current situation of Gaza and Westbank. Arafat walked away from a Palestinian state in 2000 and chose terror instead. The continued terror attacks CREATED the awful living conditions in Gaza.
Looks like they don't want to give Hamas time to move their weapons. Whoever came up with this method should be celebrated.
It will force Hamas to give up on hunkering down with their human shields. This counters that, and gives the human shields a chance to escape from the death cult.
"gives the human shields a chance to escape from the death cult" is a WILD way to describe how millions of civilians suddenly have less than 24 hours to move south (where? Who cares?) lest they get absolutely bombed to fuck.
The alternative clearly wasn't working. Any time they telegraphed a bombing, Hamas would force them to stay in the building to die so useful idiots would keep criticizing Israel for the death toll.