Gaza authorities urge civilians to ignore Israeli 'death trap' evacuation orders

Gaza's government has urged Palestinians not to follow recent Israeli evacuation orders, warning of the dangers of "death traps, murder and field executions" in the wake of repeated Israeli attacks on so-called 'safe zones' throughout the war.

The government media office released a statement late on Monday calling on Palestinians "not to obey" the new evacuation orders to flee Gaza City, where the fighting has intensified, to the southern areas.

"The Israeli occupation army published some misleading maps that call on our Palestinian people to flee from Gaza City to the south as 'safe' areas, and these calls are false calls and carry a grave danger to the lives of citizens," the statement read.

The Israeli army over the weekend issued an evacuation order for people living in the eastern parts of Gaza City which included the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which pushed hundreds of Palestinians to the western neighbourhoods of the city.

Footage shared by Palestinian journalists showed streams of families carrying belongings walking among the rubble and damaged buildings to get to the western areas.

Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda reported from Gaza that the Israeli military had begun conducting attacks near the western neighbourhoods on Monday, despite ordering civilians to move there.

In a post on Instagram on Monday, Owda said that "dozens" of people had been killed and injured in the streets of west Gaza City, with drones and snipers sighted in the area.

The Israeli military then issued another evacuation order instructing people to move south to Deir al-Balah.

But Palestinians have faced displacement multiple times and many are reluctant to move south following reports of overcrowding, disease outbreaks and people on the streets with no sanitation.

In addition, there have been numerous reports throughout the war of Israeli airstrikes hitting areas which were designated as "safe zones" by the military.

On May 26, an Israeli air strike hit a displacement camp in Tal Al-Sutan near Rafah in southern Gaza which killed 49 people and injured a further 250 after the strike sparked a deadly fire.

Most recently, a Palestinian doctor and eight members of his family were killed by an air strike on a building in Deir al-Balah last Tuesday after arriving there following an evacuation order.

The head of the UN humanitarian office for the Palestinian territories Andrea De Dominico said last week that Gaza is "the only place in the world where people cannot find a safe refuge and can’t leave the front line."

He said that even in so-called safe areas there are bombings.

Gaza's government office, which issues regular statements regarding the war and conditions in Gaza, said that the population is facing “false calls” from Israel which is luring citizens to "death traps, murder and field executions".

"The repetition of these grave mistakes and this tragedy makes citizens pay the price in their blood and lives, and the plans of the Israeli occupation are exposed and visible to all our great Palestinian people."

At least 38,243 Palestinians have been killed and over 88,000 injured by Israeli attacks since the outbreak of the war in October. The UN estimates that 90 percent of the population has been displaced and humanitarian agencies have warned of a major food and water shortage alongside famine fears.