Gaza Strip evacuations

During the Gaza war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered mass evacuations in Gaza, which the IDF said were to minimize civilian casualties in its war against Hamas, resulting in one of the largest displacements of Palestinians since 1948. On 13 October 2023, just one week after Hamas' attack on Israel, Israel instructed 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza, including those in Gaza City, to evacuate within 24 hours. This evacuation triggered a humanitarian crisis, which Palestinians (and some Israelis) have compared to the Nakba of 1948.

Israel's ground invasion of Gaza began on 27 October 2023. By early November 2024, around 800,000 to 1 million Gazans had relocated to the southern part of the Strip, while 350,000 to 400,000 remained in the north. Evacuees described the perilous journey as filled with fear and insecurity, citing attacks by the Israeli military and the sight of corpses along the evacuation routes. Even after reaching the south, evacuees faced continued bombings, leaving no truly safe place in Gaza.

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. 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. By August 2024, Israel's orders became so frequent that some residents stopped complying, believing no part of Gaza was safer than any other, while others could not comply due to overcrowding in designated "safe zones." In October 2024, forced evacuations in the besieged northern Gaza intensified fears that Israel was actively implementing aspects of the "generals' plan" to clear northern Gaza of Palestinians.

In September 2025, the United Nations stated that more than 2 million Palestineans were being pushed into increasingly shrinking areas, amounting to around 13% of the Gaza Strip, primarily within the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone. Originally farmland, the Israeli-designated zone was transformed into a densely packed tent city. Aid agencies have described conditions there lacking adequate sanitation, shelter, food, and water.

These forced evacuations have drawn severe criticism globally, with legal experts, human rights organizations, and diplomats condemning them as war crimes and crimes against humanity. South Africa has referenced these evacuations in its genocide case against Israel.