Israel's forced displacement orders in August affected 250,000 in Gaza: UNRWA

Israeli-issued forced displacement orders for a quarter of a million people in the Gaza Strip in August, the United Nations has said, affecting around one-in-nine people in the enclave.

The UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said on Thursday there were 12 so-called evacuation orders impacting some 250,000 people.

These orders see tens of thousands of people of all ages leave their homes or temporary accommodation, often at short notice, for other parts of Gaza.

"Families are repeatedly displaced, carrying what they can amid military operations and summer heat," the agency added on social media platform X.

"There is no escape from this exhausting cycle in" Gaza, UNRWA said.

Gaza has a population of 2.3 million which has been devastated by Israel's brutal 10-month military offensive, while at least 40,265 Palestinians have been killed in the assault.

These orders forcibly displace Palestinians who fear intensified operations in the areas where they are located.

Only 16 percent of Gaza has not come under Israeli military displacement orders, which have squeezed 1.7 million people into the coastal strip of Al-Mawasi.

Repeated forced displacements have pushed Gaza's population into less than 10 percent of the enclave, with thousands of people from Deir Al-Balah this week forced to spend the night on a small beach or roadsides following another so-called evacuation order.

Relentless Israeli bombing has seen attacks slice into the so-called 'humanitarian zones' killing dozens of civilians with much of Gaza's population living in tents or other makeshift homes.

Aid agencies have said that Al-Mawasi 'tent city' lacks basic living conditions with residents forced to queue for hours to fill water containers or use toilet facilities, while mothers have resorted to cleaning children with sand.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 40,265 people and wounded 93,144, according to the Palestinian enclave's health ministry.

Hospitals, ambulances, and residential buildings have been attacked, and South Africa has accused Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice, the UN's top tribunal.