The warnings to flee come suddenly: leaflets fluttering from the sky, text messages pinging thousands of phones, confusing maps on social media pointing out paths to more rubble and despair.
The Israeli military calls them evacuation orders, saying they are designed to keep civilians out of harm’s way. For Gaza’s 2.1mn people, they are the harbinger of suffering: displacement many times over, a desperate rush to gather children and the elderly, and then a slow, humiliating trudge to the next ruined corner of the besieged enclave.
The Financial Times analysed hundreds of these evacuation orders, including about 30 issued since Israel shattered a ceasefire with Hamas in March. Taken together they illustrate how Israel — which has authorised its military to occupy the entire enclave — has changed the shape of Gaza, leaving less and less land for Palestinians.