
Gaza City is almost completely emptied of its Palestinian civilian population, according to the latest estimates by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israeli newspaper Times of Israel reports.
According to IDF data, about 900,000 of the 1 million residents who lived in the city before the start of the major military offensive have relocated to the southern Gaza Strip in an attempt to avoid violent clashes and shelling.
The mass evacuation came after repeated orders from Israel for civilians to leave the city area and relocate to a previously designated "humanitarian zone" in the south of the territory.
The IDF says the rate of evacuation has increased significantly in recent weeks, as the Israeli army has continued to advance towards the city's inner neighborhoods as part of its operations against Hamas.
The humanitarian situation in southern Gaza remains alarming, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in difficult conditions, amid a lack of food, drinking water and medical assistance.
International organizations have expressed great concern about the impact of the offensive on civilians, calling for a halt to the fighting and ensuring access for humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, the IDF has warned that its operations will continue until, according to it, Hamas's military capabilities in the Gaza City area and beyond are eliminated.