GAZA CITY—On Wednesday, the Israeli military warned it would attack parts of Gaza City “with great force” and issued new displacement orders targeting several areas in the central and western neighborhoods of the city. Thousands of displaced families in Gaza City began fleeing their shelters in the evening in a state of panic and chaos.
The displacement orders came several hours after Israel committed yet another horrific massacre, bombing five homes in Jabaliya, killing more than 50 Palestinains, including 22 children and 18 women. Israel is on a rampage of bombardment across Gaza—at least 77 killed on Wednesday, over 100 today. On Tuesday, Israel bombed two hospitals in one day, while the third month of a total blockade has left everyone in Gaza hungry and thirsty. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, are facing starvation.
According to a map posted online by the Israeli military, the areas targeted with displacement orders are home to at least eight schools, some run by UNRWA—including the Al-Shati school complex, Al-Karmel School, Mustafa Hafez School, the Al-Furqan school complex, and Islamic University—that serve as shelters for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians already displaced from northern and eastern parts of the enclave.
The orders also include the area where al-Shifa hospital—the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip—is located. Hundreds of wounded and sick patients are getting treatment and seeking shelter in the hospital.
The scenes of mass displacement on Wednesday were like a slow-moving human flood flowing through destroyed streets. The roar of warplanes combined with the buzzing drones overhead. Men carried what little belongings they could: torn sleeping mats, dusty blankets, and tattered bags. Women walked behind them, carrying or followed by children. Some of the children were walking barefoot, and others dragged their school bags filled with clothes and a few bottles of water. Families headed north, toward the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr and Sheikh Radwan, which were already densely packed and struggling to accommodate people displaced from other areas.
From Drop Site News (substack) of May 15, 2025