Israeli Army Evacuates Areas in Fear of Attacks From Gaza Strip

Palestinian farmers, helped by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), use tractors to plow a field near the Israel Gaza border in the central Gaza Strip on February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinian farmers, helped by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), use tractors to plow a field near the Israel Gaza border in the central Gaza Strip on February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Israeli Army Evacuates Areas in Fear of Attacks From Gaza Strip

Palestinian farmers, helped by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), use tractors to plow a field near the Israel Gaza border in the central Gaza Strip on February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinian farmers, helped by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), use tractors to plow a field near the Israel Gaza border in the central Gaza Strip on February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

The Israeli army evacuated Monday morning workers from Gaza farms following intelligence reports claiming that a Palestinian cell is plotting to launch rocket attacks.

The military on Monday cordoned off roads and agricultural areas near the Israel-Gaza Strip border, citing engineering work.

"The residents are not subject to any danger," Israeli military sources assured. However, Israeli farmers were ordered not to work in areas near the border.

These activities sparked concerns about the eruption of war since the Israeli army has shifted priorities and placed the risk of a war with Gaza on top of the list.

Although the Lebanese Hezbollah is the arch-enemy, Gaza Strip’s preparedness for a huge war remains the main concern for Israeli security bodies, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

A high-ranking officer stated that an escalation is possible if no truce was reached with Hamas.

The truce would cover thousands of Gazans working in Israel, the transfer of the Qatari funds for a year, the desalinization of seawater, the construction of an industrial zone, and a solution for the captives and missing issue.

Notably, Qatar stepped in as a mediator between Israel and Gaza in quest of a long-term truce.



Israel Closes 6 UN Schools for Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israel Closes 6 UN Schools for Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Palestinian schoolgirls leave a UNWRA school in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israel permanently closed six UN schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.

Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days, which ended on Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate, The Associated Press reported.

The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.

UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.

The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.

In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.