The United Nations insists there is no safe place for Palestinians ordered to leave Gaza City and that Israel-designated humanitarian zones in the south are “places of death.”
“The notion of a safe zone in the south is farcical,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder tells reporters in Geneva, speaking from the Gaza Strip, pointing out that “bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which had been designated as temporary shelters are regularly reduced to rubble, (and) tents… are regularly engulfed in fire from air attacks.”
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City in recent weeks amid a new IDF offensive there. The military has urged them to move south, to a newly-established humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
The IDF during the war has declared several “humanitarian zones” in southern Gaza, where most aid is directed to and no ground operations are carried out.
However, airstrikes against Hamas targets — including rocket launchers and the terror group’s top military commander Muhammad Deif — have been conducted in the humanitarian zones, with the IDF saying it takes extra precautions to mitigate civilian harm when attacking there.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Friday, October 3, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
