[14] The crisis intensified on 1 December 2023, when Israel began issuing evacuation orders throughout the entire Gaza Strip, dividing it into 620 zones and pushing a majority of Palestinians into an area one-third the territory's size.

[15][16][17] By mid-2024, close to two-thirds of Gaza's population had been relocated into less than one-fifth of the Strip, with additional evacuation orders placing 83 percent of the entire region under displacement directives by July.

[92] On 29 October 2023, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, described reports from the Palestinian Red Crescent that the al-Quds hospital had received an urgent evacuation warning and notice that it was "going to be bombarded" as "deeply concerning."

[96] On 10 November 2023, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Al Shifa hospital, noted that despite Israeli bombings, medical staff would stay with patients until the "last moment.

"[97] On 12 November 2023, the IDF announced that it was enabling a safe passage from Al-Shifa, Rantisi, and Nasser hospitals, and opened and secured an additional one to help people to evacuate to the south.

[107] On 29 November some individuals were able to return to the al-Nasr Hospital and raised claims that IDF forces had abandoned medically complex children who died and decomposed in their beds.

[121][122][123][124][125] By August 2024, an analysis by the Critical Threats Project and the Institute for the Study of War stated that "evacuation orders are no longer a reliable indicator for imminent Israeli ground operations".

[132] On 11 November, the United Nations noted several explosions had hit the evacuation corridor on Salah al-Din Road, resulting in fatalities and injuries.

[159] On 10 January 2024, the UN Human Rights Office stated Israel was placing "civilian lives at serious risk by ordering residents from various parts of Middle Gaza to relocate to Deir el-Balah – while continuing to conduct air strikes on the city".

The UN Human Rights Office has stated that "despite Al Mawasi, Khan Younis being declared a 'humanitarian zone' by the Israeli military, it continues to conduct airstrikes and shelling into the area.".

[216] In October 2024, the Norwegian Refugee Council stated that more than a million displaced people in southern and central Gaza needed tent repair kits as winter approached.

"[221] The chiefs of multiple United Nations agencies stated they would not cooperate in the creation of the safe zone unless conditions were in place to ensure safety and essential needs were met.

[222][223] Following the end of the temporary truce on 1 December 2023, Israel released maps dividing Gaza into hundreds of numbered districts with marked "evacuation zones.

"[257] On 28 January 2024, Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud wrote people trying "to flee the horror on different routes away from the bombing were targeted by tank and artillery shells and small-arms fire".

[283] According to an IDF statement, warplanes dropped leaflets warning residents to evacuation before the army began "to operate against the [militant] organisations in the area".

"[302] Tareq Abu Azzoum, a journalist on the ground, stated Rafah was functioning like a "massive shelter" and warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the city if the Israeli military were to attack, due to the large number of children and elderly people unable to easily evacuate.

[305] On 23 April 2024, an International Committee of the Red Cross official stated, "When we see the level of destruction in the middle area (of Gaza) and in the north, it's not clear to us where people will be moved to..."[306] The same day, satellite imagery showed a compound of tents being built near Khan Younis.

[330] On 8 January 2024, Al Jazeera reported Egyptian officials were allowing individuals with at least $8,000 USD to enter Egypt, leading Palestinians to use sites like GoFundMe to fundraise enough money to leave Gaza.

[341] According to Jewish Currents, around 150,000 people in total had left the Gaza Strip since October 2023, through dual citizenship, visas, or paying large exit fees to Egyptian officials.

[344] Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly delayed the evacuation of wounded and sick children to the UAE in retaliation for an alleged Hezbollah attack on the Golan Heights.

[350] U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths stated that "The United Nations cannot be part of unilateral proposal to push Palestinians into so-called safe zones.

"[354] In July 2024, the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres stated Israel was forcing Palestinians "to move like human pinballs across a landscape of destruction and death.

[358] Following Israeli evacuation orders for central and southern Gaza in mid-August 2024, UNRWA stated Palestinians were "trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale".

"[365] In an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post, Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel wrote that rather than "funneling money" to rebuild Gaza, the international community could instead resettle Gazans in "new host countries.

"[377] The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs told residents in northern Gaza to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation.

[388] A spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated Israel was obstructing aid from the Rafah Crossing as part of a "systematic policy aimed at pushing the Palestinians to leave the strip under the weight of bombing and siege.

"[391] Following an airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp on 21 November 2023, Egypt stated it believed the strike had "a clear objective, and that is to force Gaza's residents to leave the Strip.

"[405] On 13 October 2023, a draft document prepared by Israel's Ministry of Intelligence proposed moving 2.3 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

[414] On October 15, Israel's chief military spokesman accused Hamas of trying to use civilians as human shields and issued a new appeal to Gaza residents to move south of the battle zone.

[415] An IDF officer told the New York Times that instead of the "roof knocking" policy, Israel is issuing mass evacuation orders and leaflets stating that "anyone who is near Hamas fighters will put their lives in danger.