The United Nations reports that tens of thousands of individuals in Gaza have heeded Israel's evacuation warning and relocated to the southern areas. Prior to this evacuation directive, over 400,000 Palestinians had already been displaced within Gaza, as confirmed by the UN's humanitarian office, OCHA.

Israel's military has issued evacuation orders to approximately 1.1 million people in northern Gaza in anticipation of a potential ground invasion. However, Hamas has encouraged residents to remain in their homes and defy the Israeli evacuation orders.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed deep concern over the Israeli evacuation mandate for Gazans, deeming it "extremely dangerous" and, in some instances, logistically unfeasible. He noted, "Moving more than one million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous – and in some cases, simply not possible."

In parallel developments, Israeli forces have reported the retrieval of the bodies of certain Israelis who were taken by Hamas during a ground operation in Gaza on October 13, according to reports.