Israel continues to deploy tanks and armoured vehicles to the Gaza border

Israel’s army has ordered the evacuation of all civilians living in Gaza City and in the north of the Gaza Strip ahead of a feared ground offensive on the besieged enclave.

The directive came on Friday on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in the north of Gaza within 24 hours.

The order, which comes on the seventh day of a war and “total blockade” declared by Israel following an unprecedented Hamas incursion and deadly attack, directs residents of Gaza City to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory that is home to about 2.3 million people.