Israel launches Deir Al Balah ground operation and attacks areas of Gaza for first time
The offensive in Deir Al Balah was announced by Israel's Arabic-language military spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee, who wrote in a post on X: '[The Israeli military] continues to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area, as it expands its activities in this region to operate in an area it has not operated in before'. Lt Col Adraee ordered residents of the attacked areas to move south to the Al Mawasi area.
The death toll in Gaza stands at 58,895 people, according to the strip's Health Minsitry. Medical sources said 73 Palestinians aid seekers were killed on Sunday, 67 of whom were in the north, the latest example of Israeli troops attacking Palestinians waiting for supplies as the humanitarian situation in the region spirals.
The expanded military operation comes after hopes earlier in the month that Hamas and Israel were edging towards a hostage-ceasefire deal. Progress stalled over the extent to which Israeli troops would withdraw during the phases of an agreement.
There are also fears the offensive might be part of a wider plan to force Gazans into a concentration zone in the very south of the strip, a plan that has been floated by senior Israeli officials in recent days. The military's displacement order cuts access between Deir Al Balah and the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, the latter of which Israel's defence minister wants to turn into the a 'humanitarian city'.
Israeli media reported that that the military has delayed entering Deir Al Balah due to fears that Israeli hostages captured on October 7 are being held in the area and that operations would endanger them. The lower rate of military operations also means that many displaced Gazans have sought refuge in the area and is where many international organisations are attempting to distribute aid.
The UN has been in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether their facilities in Deir Al Balah are included in Sunday's displacement order, a UN official told AP. The official said in previous instances UN facilities were spared from evacuation orders.
UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote in a post on X on Sunday that 'the Israeli Authorities are starving civilians in #Gaza. Among them are 1 million children. Lift the siege: allow UNRWA to bring in food and medicines'.
The plight of hostages continues to be one of the most divisive issues in Israel today. Saturday day evening saw more than 50,000 Israelis take to the streets of Tel Aviv in solidarity with captives. Demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy, with the father of one captive calling on US President Donald Trump to force a deal.
'The US holds the key to tipping the balance – to influencing both Israel and Hamas to close the deal and bring the hostages home,' said Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen.
'We ask President Trump: use your power – now is the time.'
After the military's announcement about the new operation, the forum said in a statement that 'can anyone guarantee us that this decision won't come at the cost of our loved ones' lives?'.
The latest negotiations towards an agreement began in Doha on July 6 amid high expectations fuelled by upbeat comments made by Mr Trump that suggested a deal was in reach.
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Al Etihad
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UN warns against Israeli evacuation orders in Deir al Balah
21 July 2025 10:03 NEW YORK (WAM) An Israeli military order for residents and displaced people in Gaza's Deir al Balah area to move south dealt 'another devastating blow' to humanitarian efforts in the war-ravaged territory, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on warned that Sunday's mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military has dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip. The order covers about 5.6 square kilometres of Deir al Balah, spanning four estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement least 1,000 families have fled the area in recent staff are remaining in Deir al Balah, spread across dozens of premises. Their coordinates have been shared with the relevant parties. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of displacement newly-designated area includes several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure: the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, three water wells, one water reservoir, one solid waste dumping site and one wastewater pumping station. Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening statement added, "With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones has risen to 87.8 percent, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12 percent of the Strip, where essential services have collapsed." "The new order cuts through Deir al Balah all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, further splintering the Strip. It will limit the ability of the UN and our partners to move safely and effectively within Gaza, choking humanitarian access when it is needed most."
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35 minutes ago
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Israeli fire kills 67 people seeking aid in Gaza, medics say
At least 67 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they waited for UN aid trucks, Gaza's health ministry said, as Israel issued new evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced people. The ministry said dozens of people were also wounded in the incident in northern Gaza. It was one of the highest reported death tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed, including 36 on Saturday. Another six people were killed near another aid site in the south, it said. Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands of people in northern Gaza on Sunday to remove what it said was "an immediate threat". It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated and it "certainly does not intentionally target humanitarian aid trucks". It did not immediately comment on the incident in the south. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that shortly after entering Gaza, a WFP convoy of 25 trucks carrying food aid encountered "massive crowds of hungry civilians" who then came under gunfire. "WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable," it said in a statement. A Hamas official told Reuters that the group was angered over the mounting deaths and the hunger crisis in the enclave and that this could badly affect ceasefire talks underway in Qatar. In total, health authorities said 90 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the enclave on Sunday. After Israel's military dropped leaflets urging people to evacuate from neighbourhoods in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, residents said Israeli planes struck three houses in the area. Dozens of families began leaving their homes, carrying some of their belongings. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans have been sheltering in the Deir al-Balah area. Israel's military said it had not entered the districts subject to the evacuation order during the current conflict and that it was continuing "to operate with great force to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure in the area". Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out is because they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to still be alive. Hostage families demanded an explanation from the army. "Can anyone (promise) to us that this decision will not come at the cost of losing our loved ones?" the families said in a statement. Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of war and there are fears of accelerating starvation. Palestinian health officials said hundreds of people could soon die as hospitals were inundated with patients suffering from dizziness and exhaustion due to the scarcity of food and a collapse in aid deliveries. "We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger," said Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations also said on Sunday that civilians were starving and needed an urgent influx of aid. Pope Leo called for an end to the "barbarity of war" as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza that killed three people on Thursday. Gaza residents said it was becoming impossible to find essential food such as flour. The health ministry said at least 71 children had died of malnutrition during the war, and 60,000 others were suffering from symptoms of malnutrition. Later on Sunday, it said 18 people have died of hunger in the past 24 hours. Food prices have increased well beyond what most of the population of more than two million can afford. Several people who spoke to Reuters via chat apps said they either had one meal or no meal in the past 24 hours. "As a father, I wake up in the early morning to look for food, for even a loaf of bread for my five children, but all in vain," said Ziad, a nurse. "People who didn't die of bombs will die of hunger. We want an end to this war now, a truce, even for two months," he told Reuters. Others said they felt dizzy walking in the streets and that many fainted as they walked. Fathers leave tents to avoid questions by their children about what to eat. UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, demanded Israel allow more aid trucks into Gaza, saying it had enough food for the entire population for over three months which was not allowed in. Israel's military said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community". Some Palestinians suggested the move on Deir al-Balah might be an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to make more concessions in long-running ceasefire negotiations. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough. The war on Gaza was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and causing a hunger crisis.
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