IDF orders people to evacuate more areas in southern Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told civilians to leave large swaths of the Gaza Strip, including number of neighborhoods in southern parts of the enclave, after it resumed its military offensive there.

Earlier on Sunday, the IDF told people to evacuate several areas southeast of Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza where many have looked for shelter in recent weeks. 

The IDF told people to move further south.

“For your safety, we invite you to move to the well-known IDP shelters in the neighborhoods of Al-Fukhari, Al-Shaboura, Al-Zuhur, and Tal Al-Sultan,” the IDF said in a statement published on social media in Arabic. `

It is not clear how many people in Gaza have access to social media because electricity and internet access are unreliable due to the war. 

Later on Sunday, the IDF also instructed people to leave some areas in northern Gaza, including Jabalya, Shejaiya, Zaytoun and the Old City of Gaza. Many of the areas have been previously targeted by heavy IDF strikes. 

The IDF released a new map of Gaza on Friday, dividing the strip of land into hundreds of numbered sectors that it called “evacuation zones.”

It said it would use the map to advise people to evacuate civilian areas where it says Hamas has placed military infrastructure.

The IDF also dropped leaflets in areas of southern Gaza which included a QR code that connects to the map when scanned — if users have internet access, which is very spotty in Gaza.

CNN’s attempts to contact people in Khan Younis to ask if they had seen the map were unsuccessful on Saturday and Sunday due to the poor communication links. 

The UN estimates that up to 1.8 million people in Gaza, or nearly 80 percent of the population, are internally displaced, having already had to leave their homes.