Israel orders Gaza families to evacuate their homes

Red-eyed from tears and lost sleep, Palestinian widowed Balssam al-Nabaheen waited impatiently for the crack of dawn.

She immediately packed enough clothes for herself and her five children and abandoned her home in Beit Hanoun on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip. "Now I feel a bit more secure being surrounded by sisters and their children," al-Nabaheen said after arriving to the family house in central Gaza City.

"I could no longer hide my fear in front of my kids," she said.

"The endless Israeli strikes and the threat of an extended war were just too much for me to handle," added the Gazan widow.

At least 205 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the besieged coastal enclave since July 7. Fatalities include at least 39 children, according to Palestinian health officials.

More than 1530 people have also been injured, many seriously, in the aerial attacks, which reportedly aim to stop rocket firing from Gaza. Like many other families in the northern Gaza Strip, she decided to seek relative peace in Gaza City with her extended family.

"At least now my kids feel safer being around their family," said the Palestinian widow. "The area here is also less dangerous," she added, with a sigh of relief.

Israeli forces have ordered more than 225,000 Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes ahead of fresh airstrikes. "Israeli army sent SMSs to residents in the areas of al-Shujaya, Zaitoun and Beit Lahia to leave," Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee tweeted late Tuesday.

According to Palestinian official statistics, some 50,000 people live in the southern Gaza City neighborhood of Zaitoun while 100,000 reside in the eastern al-Shujaya neighborhood. More than 75,000 Palestinians also live in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Lahia, according to the same statistics.

Thousands of Palestinians have already been forcibly displaced from their homes because of the ongoing Israeli military onslaught against the blockaded coastal enclave.

-Ghost Area-

Mariam al-Zaanein says her neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Lahia has become like a ghost city. "The Israeli threats of a ground invasion have scared away most of the local families," said, noting that Israeli incursions always start from the northern areas of the Strip.

"Eventually, we decided to leave like others and seek shelter elsewhere," said al-Zaanein, 20.

She has since moved to her grandfather's house in central Gaza City. "I know it is dangerous everywhere in the Gaza Strip and that death is lurking, but being around my relatives makes me less worried," said al-Zaanein.

"My heart goes out for other families who have no safer place to run to," she added.