Israel must end 'cruel and unlawful' evacuation orders in north Gaza

Amnesty International said on Tuesday that Israel must end the "cruel and unlawful" evacuation orders Israel has issued for northern Gaza, including the besieged Jabalia refugee camp.

"Israeli authorities must rescind the cruel and unlawful “evacuation” orders - Israel’s euphemism for forced displacement - issued over the past week to residents of the North Gaza governorate and immediately allow the unhindered entry of essential supplies, including food and fuel to the area."

The statement comes as at least three people have been killed and several others injured by an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with Israel besieging the campa amid claims it is deliberately prohibiting aid from entering the north.

Israel attacked the Birkat Abu Rashid area of Jabalia, according to Al Jazeera.

The media outlet, reporting from the scene, showed footage of rescuers desperately trying to help survivors escape from a heavily damaged residential building, as a man is seen carrying an injured child.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli ground forces launched a significant assault on the al-Faluja neighbourhood within Jabalia.

At least 55 people were killed in Israeli attacks throughout the whole of the Gaza Strip, the enclave's health ministry said.

According to local residents speaking to Al Jazeera, troops are placing barrels filled with explosives into the ground to demolish buildings and homes in Jabalia. 

The area is also being heavily attacked by drones and artillery, leaving dozens of Palestinian families trapped, with Israeli forces preventing injured people from being evacuated.

Sources report that medical teams trying to access the area are being targeted by drones, while soldiers are firing at anyone attempting to move in Jabalia, as well as in the nearby areas of al-Balad, an-Nazla, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon.

The charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), reported that thousands of people remained trapped in the camp despite Israel issuing widespread evacuation orders from Jabalia and across northern Gaza.

One MSF staff member confirmed that people trying to leave are being shot by Israeli forces.

"Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot," MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said on X. Five MSF staff are trapped in Jabalia, she added.

Israel began its siege, bombardment and ground invasion of Jabalia and other parts of northern Gaza on 5 October, with hundreds of civilians killed and schools and residential buildings frequently targeted.

Tel Aviv claims that the assault on Jabalia is aimed at preventing Hamas from reconstituting in the camp, something which contradicts earlier Israeli claims that it had defeated the organisation in northern Gaza.

On Sunday, it was revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza. If this plan is implemented, it could leave hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who are unable to leave their homes, without food or water.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said in a statement that Israel's plan to starve northern Gaza, including Jabalia, was already underway. 

"Reports now indicate that starvation as a weapon of war is being used on an institutionalised and unprecedented scale," the ICJP wrote, further adding that the "general's plan", named after former Israeli general Giora Eiland, who has argued before for using starvation against Palestinian civilians, aims to "exterminate the Palestinian people in northern Gaza."

Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa’s Regional Director at Amnesty issued a similar warning about Israel's intent, stating:

"The Israeli military has intensified its efforts to forcibly displace the entirety of the civilian population in the area north of Wadi Gaza to the south, starting with the North Gaza governorate, forcing civilians to choose between starvation or displacement, while their homes and streets are relentlessly pounded by bombs and shells."