Israel warns half of Gaza’s population to move south, UN says

NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) – The United Nations said Israel‘s military informed it late on Thursday that 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to the enclave’s south within the next 24 hours, in what Palestinians fear could be a precursor to a planned Israeli ground offensive following a deadly Hamas militant attack.

U.N. officials in Gaza “were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement in New York.

“This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people,” Dujarric added, or nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population. The areas north of Wadi Gaza include Gaza City, the enclave’s largest city.

Dujarric said the U.N. “considers it impossible for such a