Israel says there are 150 shelters in Gaza that it won’t target in addition to al-Mawasi safe zone

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli ground offensive on the Gaza Strip set up a tent camp in the al-Mawasi area Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli ground offensive on the Gaza Strip set up a tent camp in the al-Mawasi area Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israeli authorities have identified roughly 150 shelters in Gaza that it says will not be targeted by the IDF during its ongoing operations in Gaza, Col. Elad Goren, from Israel’s COGAT military liaison to the Palestinians tells The Times of Israel.

These shelters are in addition to the al-Mawasi area, which Goren says has not been targeted by the IDF, even after terror groups fired rockets from within the 20-square-kilometer coastal safe zone.

The shelters are schools and other public infrastructure, whose coordinates have been passed along by the UN to Israel through the IDF’s recently beefed up deconfliction mechanism, Goren says.

The senior COGAT official says that the 150 buildings will remain safe for civilians pending changes in the IDF’s operations.

US officials have said in recent days that while Israel has expanded some of the safe zones, some Palestinians are still being targeted after fleeing to them.

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