Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza ahead of military offensive

People take part in a protest demanding the end of the war, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

Israel announced on Saturday that it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Cogat, said the supply of tents and other shelter equipment to the territory would resume on Sunday ahead of the mass movement of Palestinians to the south.

The military said it had no comment on when that movement would begin.

Meanwhile, anxious families of Israeli hostages called for a “nationwide day of stoppage” in Israel on Sunday to express growing frustration over 22 months of war.

Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive.

The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war – a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have also made in recent weeks.

“I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us,” said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity.

She spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv.