Visual analysis shows 60% of Gaza now under evacuation orders

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has expanded its ground operation in Gaza both in the south, and more recently, in the central region of the territory.

Beginning in December, after the end of the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expanded its ground operation in Gaza — both in the south, and more recently, in the central region of the territory.

This has also resulted in more evacuation warnings for civilians in areas of combat, and with the addition of warnings for cities in the central region, 60% of Gaza's territory is now under evacuation orders, according to an analysis by ABC News.

By cross-referencing the IDF evacuation warnings, sent on social media as well as leaflets dropped on Gaza, with the IDF's map dividing Gaza into blocks, ABC News has been able to create an overall picture of every evacuation warning the IDF has announced.

Up to 1.9 million people — or more than 85% of the population — have been displaced throughout the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, according to a Jan. 2 report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Dr. Elizabeth Ferris, the director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, said the "unprecedented" scale of displacement in Gaza creates a range of serious consequences.