Israeli Military Issues Forced Displacement Orders Amid Fears of Full Gaza Occupation

The Israeli military has placed parts of Gaza City and Khan Younis under new enforced displacement orders amid fears that the country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is preparing to order the full occupation of the Palestinian territory.

- Peter Beaumont

Israel's security cabinet is expected to meet this evening and sign off on plans for an expanded operation despite reported serious misgivings from senior military officers.

The order for Gaza — euphemistically described by the Israel Defense Forces as an "evacuation" — is the latest in dozens of such announcements that have displaced the vast majority of Gaza's population.

The orders came as Donald Trump, the US president, said Israel would make any decision over expanded Israeli control in Gaza. "As far as the rest of it, I really can't say. That's going to be pretty much up to Israel," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Many people had returned to Gaza City quite recently, after long periods of displacement, only to find their homes war-damaged and looted, with even doors and windows stolen in some cases.

As Gaza's health ministry reported that five more people had died from starvation in the coastal strip, which has been plunged into a devastating hunger crisis as a result of Israel's complete block on aid entering earlier this year, Jordan reported that an aid convoy of 30 trucks heading to Gaza had been attacked by militant Jewish settlers on entering Israel.

After the attack, the second in days, Jordan accused Israel of failing to act to prevent repeated assaults. "This requires a serious Israeli intervention and no leniency in dealing with those who obstruct these convoys," said Jordan's government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani.