Israel’s army has ordered 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate “southwards” within just 24 hours an order the United Nations called “impossible” without “devastating humanitarian consequences.” The ultimatum came as Israel massed troops, tanks and armored vehicles in southern Israel for a widely anticipated ground invasion of Gaza. On Friday, Israel dropped thousands of leaflets across the Gaza Strip warning Palestinians to leave their homes or risk death. The Norwegian Refugee Council condemned what it called “the collective punishment of countless civilians, among them children, women, and the elderly,” which it said “would amount to the war crime of forcible transfer.”
