Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says

By Maayan Lubell and Enas Alashray

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Gaza residents will be provided with tents and other shelter equipment starting from Sunday ahead of relocating them from combat zones to "safe" ones in the south of the enclave, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

This comes days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave's largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, home to about 2.2 million people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that before launching the offensive, the civilian population will be evacuated to what he described as "safe zones" from Gaza City, which he called Hamas' last stronghold.

The shelter equipment will be transferred via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza by the United Nations and other international relief organisations after being inspected by defence ministry personnel, the military said.

The military declined to comment when asked whether the shelter equipment was intended for Gaza City's population estimated at around one million people presently, and whether the site to which they will be relocated in southern Gaza would be the area of Rafah, which borders Egypt.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the plans for the new offensive were still being formulated.

However, Israeli forces have already increased operations on the outskirts of Gaza City over the past week. Residents in the neighborhoods of Zeitorun and Shejaia have reported heavy Israeli aerial and tank fire which has destroyed many houses.

The Israeli military on Friday said that it had begun a new operation in Zeitun to locate explosives, destroy tunnels and kill militants in the area.

The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli authorities and 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are still alive.

Israel's subsequent military assault against Hamas has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced most of Gaza's population and left much of the enclave in ruins.

Protests calling for a hostage release and an end to the war were expected throughout Israel on Sunday, with many businesses and universities saying they will strike for the day.

Negotiations to secure a U.S.-backed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release ended in deadlock last month and mediators Egypt and Qatar have been trying to revive them.

(Additional reporting by Enas Alashray in Cairo and Emily Rose in Jerusalem; Writing by Maayan Lubell, Ahmed Elimam, Enas Alashray and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Diane Craft)