Israel tanks advance into Deir al-Balah metropolis for first time

[ad_1] Rushdi Abualouf Gaza correspondent, Istanbul

David Gritten BBC Information, Jerusalem

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3305/live/fb44dbf0-6631-11f0-9b46-d5bea8d921ec.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="AFP Men ride on a motorised cart along Salah al-Din road in Deir al-Balah, as smoke billows in the background, in the central Gaza Strip (21 July 2025)" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> AFP Residents of Deir al-Balah have been fleeing southern areas of Deir al-Balah in response to Israeli navy orders

Israeli tanks have superior into Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the primary time, triggering a contemporary wave of displacement amongst civilians.

Native journalists mentioned tanks entered southern and japanese areas of town on Monday amid heavy air and artillery strikes, a day after Israel ordered residents in a number of areas to go away.

Deir al-Balah is among the few areas of Gaza the place Israel has not performed a serious floor operation throughout its 21-month struggle with Hamas.

The UK and 24 different nations in the meantime condemned the killing of a whole lot of Palestinians at meals assist factors. "The struggle in Gaza should finish now," they mentioned. "The struggling of civilians has reached new depths."

The UN mentioned the evacuation order in Deir al-Balah affected tens of hundreds of Palestinians and dealt "one other devastating blow" to humanitarian efforts.

The neighbourhoods comprise dozens of camps for displaced households in addition to assist warehouses, well being clinics, and significant water infrastructure.

Native journalists advised the BBC that Israeli tanks and different navy automobiles pushed into japanese Deir al-Balah on Monday from the path of the Kissufim crossing and beneath the quilt of heavy artillery and air strikes.

Dozens of shells struck the Abu al-Ajin and Hikr al-Jami areas, they mentioned.

Night time-time footage shared on social media confirmed explosions and the sound of gunfire. Native medics mentioned a number of individuals had been killed by shelling.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0233/live/016c02f0-662e-11f0-8dbd-f3d32ebd3327.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A BBC map titled "Israeli evacuation or 'no go' zones across Gaza". It shows the Gaza strip, and the borders with Israel and Egypt. The map shows four Israeli military corridors which cut across Gaza, and is shaded to show how almost all of the territory has been under evacuation orders. The newly affected area, the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, is shown with a red outline." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> A spokeswoman for the British charity Medical Assist for Palestinians (MAP), which operates a clinic in Deir al-Balah, described the state of affairs as "extraordinarily crucial".

"Shelling is going down throughout our workplace, and navy automobiles are simply 400m away from our colleagues and their households, who endured a harrowing evening after relocating there," Mai Elawawda mentioned in a press release.

On Sunday, the Israeli navy ordered the fast evacuation of six metropolis blocks in southern Deir al-Balah, warning that it could be working "with nice pressure to destroy the enemy's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure".

Leila Ezzat al-Shana and her household - together with two younger youngsters and her sister-in-law, whose leg has been amputated - advised the BBC that she had fled from the Bureij refugee camp, about 5km (2.5 miles) north-east of Deir al-Balah, to the close by Nuseirat camp on Monday.

"[Bureij] was a extremely harmful place," she mentioned. "We noticed the tanks in entrance of us. There have been so many snipers capturing in every single place. The pictures entered the house in entrance of me... It is a miracle to remain alive.

"Persons are dropping their minds and they're falling to the bottom because of the lack of meals."

The UN Workplace for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned on Sunday that a whole lot of households had already fled.

It mentioned the evacuation order lined about 5.6 sq km (2.2 sq miles) of Deir al-Balah, residence to between 50,000 and 80,000 individuals, together with 30,000 in 57 camps for the displaced.

OCHA mentioned UN employees had been remaining in Deir al-Balah, unfold throughout dozens of premises whose co-ordinates had been shared with Israel, and burdened that they have to be protected.

The affected areas home a number of assist warehouses, 4 major well being clinics, 4 medical factors, a water desalination plant, three water wells, a water reservoir, a strong waste dumping web site, and a wastewater pumping station, it added.

"Any harm to this infrastructure could have life-threatening penalties," it mentioned.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a1b6/live/47ec4e40-6649-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Satellite image showing an area near Deir al-Balah with a highlighted zone indicating the latest evacuation order. An inset view displays temporary shelters and tents. Source: IDF (20 July), Satellite image: PlanetLabs PBC (17 July)" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Medical Assist for Palestinians mentioned a number of humanitarian organisations' places of work and guesthouses had been "ordered to evacuate instantly" by the Israeli navy.

9 clinics together with MAP's Solidarity Polyclinic - which alone cared for round 320 sufferers a day - had been shut down, it added. 5 shelters and a group kitchen had additionally closed.

The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) mentioned it was sustaining "ongoing and steady contact" with worldwide assist organisations, to assist evacuate "important establishments". It didn't touch upon the navy operation.

The UN and different humanitarian companies relocated key elements of their operations to Deir al-Balah after Israeli floor forces entered the southern metropolis of Rafah greater than a yr in the past.

Israeli sources say that the doable presence of Israeli hostages held by Hamas is one cause why Deir al-Balah had up to now escaped the preventing. No less than 20 of the 50 hostages nonetheless in captivity are believed to be nonetheless alive.

Hostages' households have expressed concern that an offensive might endanger them.

"Can anybody [promise] to us that this determination won't come at the price of dropping our family members?" they mentioned on Sunday.

Based on the UN, about 87.8% of Gaza is now lined by Israeli evacuation orders or is inside Israeli militarized zones, leaving the two.1 million inhabitants squeezed into about 46 sq km of land the place important companies have collapsed.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a31f/live/3544bfd0-6620-11f0-af20-030418be2ca5.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in the Deir al-Balah area, in central Gaza, 21 July 2025" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Smoke rises following Israeli strikes within the Deir al-Balah space on Monday

In the meantime, the World Meals Programme warned Gaza's starvation disaster had "reached new ranges of desperation" after greater than 100 individuals had been reportedly killed whereas ready for meals over the weekend.

On Sunday, at the least 67 individuals had been killed as they surged towards a convoy of WFP assist lorries close to the Zikim crossing level in northern Gaza, in keeping with the Hamas-run well being ministry. The Israeli navy mentioned its troopers fired warning pictures at a crowd of hundreds "to take away a direct menace".

"Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 girls and kids in pressing want of remedy. Practically one particular person in three just isn't consuming for days," the WFP mentioned.

"Solely a large scale-up in meals assist distributions can stabilise this spiralling state of affairs."

Of their joint assertion, the group of 25 nations together with European nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan condemned what they mentioned was the "drip feeding of assist and the inhumane killing of civilians, together with youngsters".

"It's horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed whereas searching for assist."

It condemned Hamas's refusal to launch all its hostages, and mentioned a "negotiated ceasefire gives the perfect hope of bringing them residence".

The Israeli international ministry mentioned on Sunday that 4,400 lorry a great deal of humanitarian assist had entered Gaza from Israel since mid-Might, when it partially eased a complete blockade on deliveries that lasted 11 weeks. One other 700 lorry hundreds had been ready to be picked up by the UN from the Gaza aspect of its crossing factors, it added.

Israel launched its struggle in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led assaults on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 individuals and led to 251 others being taken hostage.