Israel bombs Gaza after displacement orders, kills two Palestinians

Israel conducted airstrikes in Gaza on Thursday, killing at least two Palestinians, according to medical sources. These strikes followed Israeli displacement orders for residents in four areas, including Bureij, Jabalia, Zeitoun, and Tal al-Hawa. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili reported that these warnings were followed by attacks on the very areas people were told to evacuate, noting, “What is particularly alarming is that these warnings have been followed by attacks on the very areas where people have been told to flee.” The attacks occurred despite a US-brokered ceasefire from last year and amidst a stalling US plan for Gaza.

Egypt urged the US to accelerate the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza, with reports indicating Moroccan officers visited Gaza in preparation for deployment. The humanitarian situation remains critical, with 1.4 million people experiencing “crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity,” as Ross Smith of the UN World Food Programme stated, “It is still a critical, desperate humanitarian situation.” The UK Foreign Office has demanded Israel end restrictions on humanitarian aid, stating that these restrictions are “driving disease, water scarcity and decimating health services.”