Israeli forces continue to systematically use last-minute displacement orders as a violent tool of ethnic cleansing, raising fear and anxiety levels even higher in Gaza’s already terrified population.
Reposted from Doctors Without Borders, May 27, 2025
Israeli forces continue to systematically use last-minute displacement orders as a violent tool, turning the Gaza Strip into hell on earth for Palestinians, said Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Along with the continued incessant bombing and a near-total blockade of aid, the constant state of alert people are living in and the unpredictability of displacement orders are having devastating consequences on people’s mental health.
“Israeli forces are destroying all means of life for Palestinians in Gaza through psychological and physical warfare,” said Claire Manera, MSF emergency coordinator. “Forced displacements are part of the Israeli forces and authorities’ campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. They have nowhere else to go.”
“Our colleagues are desperate,” said Omar Alsaqqa, MSF logistics manager. “There are no tents left and no space for people to set up. I don’t know how to answer when colleagues ask me where they can go with their children in the middle of the night. We are running out of options to stay alive.”
Fleeing with nowhere to go
Since the start of the war, Palestinians have been forced to evacuate repeatedly, many fleeing for their lives multiple times, as experienced by a number of MSF staff. With 31 displacement orders issued since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, the relentless forced displacements have trapped Palestinians in an endless cycle of suffering. On May 19, a single large-scale displacement order in Khan Younis covered 22 percent of the Strip, affecting more than 70 MSF staff members, while another order on May 26 covered 40 percent of central and south Gaza.
These displacement orders and established no-go military zones now cover around 80 percent of Gaza, and not a single area of the Strip has been spared from attacks. About 600,000 people have been displaced again since March 18, according to the Site Management Cluster, a coalition of NGOs and the UN that monitors and supports displaced people in Gaza. Many have evacuated areas only to be bombed again in their new “safe refuge.” For example, on May 26, MSF teams treated 17 patients following an attack very close to its Khan Younis health care center in central Gaza—an area to which people are supposed to move.
“I woke up my children and told them we were just going out for a little bit,” said Asmaa Abu Asaker, MSF liaison officer, after a displacement order was issued in her neighborhood. “They started crying. They grabbed their bags. I was terrified but tried to act calm, even though my heart was pounding with fear.”
Unpredictable and last-minute orders create an impossible situation
The displacement orders are unpredictable and come with ridiculously short deadlines, putting people in an impossible situation. People receive leaflets, social media posts, or phone calls about an imminent attack, leaving them limited time to collect their belongings and seek shelter. The very act of forcing people to repeatedly flee—often in the middle of the night without having anywhere to go—is taking both an immense physical and psychological toll.
“This time I don’t want to pack,” said Sabreen Al-Massani, an MSF psychotherapist who has been displaced multiple times. “No bags, no papers, nothing. I don’t know why—maybe my mindset is wrong, but I just cannot mentally process the idea of leaving home again.”
While displacement orders are forcing Palestinians to ever-shrinking areas, Israeli forces also regularly carry out attacks without issuing displacement orders. On April 9, more than 20 people were killed in a strike that targeted a residential block of seven buildings in Gaza City. Among those killed were the families of two MSF staff members who were at work when the strike occurred and later learned their loved ones had been buried under the rubble.
“We are in a constant state of alert; we can receive a notification to flee at any time,” Al-Massani said, describing how the displacement orders are severely affecting Palestinians’ mental health and state of anxiety. “We cannot sleep at night thinking we might be the next.”
MSF calls on Israeli forces to immediately halt the forced displacement of people and their ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s allies must also halt their support and complicity.
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