Gaza City Residents Have Been Told to Evacuate-But They Have Nowhere to Go

A displaced persons camp in the Al-Muasi area, Khan Yunis. Photo: Doaa Albaz, Activestills

After the army announced that those residing in Gaza City should evacuate to the south before the city’s takeover by the army, we approached the Minister of Defense, the Army Chief of Staff, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and the Military Attorney General with an urgent appeal regarding our serious concerns for the city’s civilian population.  

In the appeal, Attorney Reut Shaer argued that the army is calling on residents to evacuate when there is no safe place for them to go. A significant portion of the areas to which Gaza residents were given evacuation orders are defined as dangerous fire zones, which the army itself has instructed civilians in recent months to avoid completely. There is no infrastructure nor organized plan for absorbing the city's population, which numbers over a million people. Hundreds of thousands of people are already crowded in refugee camps in the center and south of Gaza, which lack infrastructure and sanitation services. The health systems are collapsing, and people already in these areas are struggling to obtain food and water. We warned in our appeal that the additional displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and pushing into the same disaster-stricken areas will worsen hunger and malnutrition, exacerbate the spread of diseases, and double or triple the number of families living without any shelter. 

In the appeal, we emphasized that the army's announcements demanding that the civilian population in Gaza City evacuate southward do not absolve the army of its responsibility to protect those who cannot or will not evacuate, and do not exempt it from acting according to the principles of humanitarian law. We therefore demanded that it ensure that the remaining civilian population in Gaza City be protected, including safeguarding hospitals, religious and educational institutions, and humanitarian organizations; allowing aid to continue to enter Gaza; and assuring that military attacks do not cause disproportionate harm to civilians or civilian targets. We further demanded that the army ensure the safety and security of those evacuated from the city, including making sure that there are sufficient tents; food, water and sanitation infrastructure; and access to medical services for the displaced population in the center of Gaza. 

ACRI's appeal, August 28, 2025 

We have not forgotten: 🛑 Stop the killing and starvation in Gaza 🛑 Stop the abandonment of the hostages 🛑 End the war. Now.