84 pct of Gaza Strip under Israeli evacuation orders: UN relief agency

People flee from the eastern districts of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 8, 2024. Following a new evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities, UN humanitarians said on Thursday its partners reported thousands of Gazans again fleeing parts of the Khan Younis area, west, toward Al Mawasi. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 84 percent of the Gaza Strip is under evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army, a UN relief and human development agency said Tuesday.

"People run for their lives, grabbing what they can and leaving everything else behind. They are exhausted and have nowhere safe to go," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media platform X.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli army has demanded that residents in Gaza leave their homes in preparation for military operations. Displaced individuals have been forced to seek refuge in UNRWA shelters, stay with relatives, or set up tents in streets and schools.

People flee from the Hamad City, a neighborhood in the northwest of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 11, 2024, following the latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

According to data from the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, 2 million people out of a total population of 2.3 million in the enclave have been displaced due to the current conflict.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages being taken.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,929, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently warned that the entire Gaza Strip is at high risk of famine.

According to Palestinian organizations active in the enclave, many diseases, including skin conditions, have been reported in overcrowded shelters in Gaza.

People flee from the eastern districts of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 8, 2024. Following a new evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities, UN humanitarians said on Thursday its partners reported thousands of Gazans again fleeing parts of the Khan Younis area, west, toward Al Mawasi. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)