Palestinians flee Gaza City amid evacuation threats
Smoke rises as Palestinians leave their homes with their belongings along Rashid Street due to intense Israeli military attacks and forced evacuation warnings in the northern Gaza Strip
Attacks on schools during war have been ‘constant, deliberate’
The UNRWA schools that were targeted in Shati refugee camp were very overcrowded, according to witnesses.
These schools were supposed to be protected by international humanitarian law. But over the past 23 months, we have not seen that happen. What we have seen is constant, deliberate attacks on these facilities for tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
These attacks are carried out by Israeli fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and, more recently, suicide drones.
What’s really worrying now is that these places have become overcrowded with many displaced families – people who once lived in apartments are now seeking shelter in packed schools. They are the last refuge for many families. Yet, they get attacked and are forced onto the street without a clear path of where to go.
UNRWA says 86% of Gaza under Israeli forced evacuation threat
UNRWA has warned that Israel’s invasion of Gaza City is driving new massive waves of displacement, leaving more families with no safe place to seek refuge.
As of early September, the agency said 86 percent of Gaza falls under a militarised zone or a forced displacement threats.
Palestinians “need a ceasefire before it is too late”, it said.
Entire neighbourhoods in Gaza City and Jabalya are being emptied.
More than 86% of #Gaza is under displacement orders or militarised zones.
Families are fleeing with nowhere safe to go.
The siege must be lifted.#CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/V8JZyUaaVC
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) September 13, 2025
More Israeli attacks on Gaza City
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report Israeli forces fired artillery shells and smoke bombs at the al-Nafaq and Yarmouk areas. At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza City since morning, according to hospital sources.
In August, Israel announced plans for a military takeover and occupation of the largest city in the enclave, where about 1.3 million Palestinians are currently sheltering in fear and without water, food, and medicine. Military analysts say Israel’s plans – which would see it assume security control and establish an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority – could take years.
