(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Israeli military is preparing to relocate residents to southern Gaza, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Saturday.
He said the military will provide Gaza residents with tents and other equipment starting from Sunday.
This comes days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave's largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished Strip, home to about 2.2mn people.
The equipment will be transferred via the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom by the UN and other international relief organisations, Adraee added in a post on X.
Israel's COGAT, the military agency that co-ordinates aid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the preparations were part of the new plan.
Taking over the city of about 1mn Palestinians complicates ceasefire efforts to end the nearly two-year war, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follows through with his plan to take on Hamas' two remaining strongholds.
Netanyahu said Israel wants Hamas to lay down its arms. Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state was established.
Israeli forces have already increased operations on the outskirts of Gaza City over the past week. Residents in the neighbourhoods of Zeitorun and Shejaia have reported heavy Israeli aerial and tank fire which has destroyed many houses.
The Israeli military on Friday said that it had begun a new operation in Zeitun.
Protests calling for a hostage release and an end to the war were expected throughout Israel Sunday, with many businesses and universities saying they will strike for the day.
Negotiations to secure a US-backed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release ended in deadlock last month and mediators Egypt and Qatar have been trying to revive them.
Israel already controls about 75% of Gaza.
The war has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

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