Over the past month, the Israel Defense Forces have forced many Gazans to flee their homes or shelters. However, Tel Aviv is not creating new humanitarian zones for the displaced Palestinians to shelter.

According to Haaretz, after Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18 and resumed major military operations in Gaza, it has not designated any new safe zones in the Strip. Other areas previously classified as humanitarian zones have been bombed by the IDF nearly two dozen times over the past month.

Haaretz noted that Israel issued a map of Gaza that eliminated the humanitarian zones on January 15, before the ceasefire and hostage agreement with Hamas came into effect.

After the ceasefire took hold, many Gazans sheltering in tents at designated safe zones left to go back to their homes. After Israel resumed operations in the Strip, many returned to former humanitarian zones, even though Tel Aviv had not re-designated the areas.

Since resuming military operations in Gaza, the IDF has also issued mass evacuation orders across the Strip. Israeli forces now control about 50% of Gaza.

Many areas controlled by the IDF have effectively become kill zones where Palestinian civilians are gunned down for crossing into a region deemed off-limits by Tel Aviv. The UN estimates that such no-go zones make up nearly 70% of Gaza.

Additionally, the IDF appears to have made the evacuation orders intentionally misleading. Professor Yaakov Garb of Israel’s Ben-Gurion University explained that Tel Aviv often posts maps with evacuation orders that are upside down and lack sufficient detail.

Many top Israeli officials have stated that Tel Aviv’s goal in Gaza is not eliminating Hamas or freeing the remaining hostages, but removing all Palestinians from the Strip.