Israel Warns Gaza City Residents to Evacuate Immediately
JERUSALEM – In a dramatic move, Israel has issued a warning to all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately in anticipation of a massive ground offensive.
The military’s Arabic spokesman has urged as many as one million Palestinians living in Gaza’s largest urban center to evacuate southwards, emphasizing that staying in the area poses extreme danger.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the recent airstrikes that demolished high-rise buildings in Gaza City were just the beginning of a major operation to capture what he views as Hamas’s final important stronghold.
Hamas condemned Netanyahu’s statements as a “public demonstration of a fully-fledged crime of forced displacement.”
The plan to conquer Gaza City has sparked international criticism, with the UN warning that intensifying the offensive in an area already suffering from a famine will lead to a deeper catastrophe for civilians.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have made their message clear through leaflets dropped over Gaza City and social media posts by their Arabic spokesman Col Avichay Adraee, stating, “For your safety, evacuate immediately.”
Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to conquer all of Gaza following the breakdown of indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in July.
The IDF has been tasked with defeating Hamas after 23 months of war and rescuing the 48 hostages still held by the armed group.
Recent weeks have seen an escalation of Israeli air and ground attacks on Gaza City, with overnight airstrikes targeting buildings allegedly used by Hamas to launch attacks against Israeli troops.
Netanyahu, in a video message on Monday, emphasized that the destruction of 50 high-rises in Gaza over the previous two days was just the beginning, signaling the start of a ground incursion.
Hamas criticized Netanyahu’s remarks as a “fully-fledged crime of forced displacement” amidst bombing, massacres, starvation, and death threats.
Photographs showed a stream of people leaving Gaza City on Tuesday, but there was no mass exodus as many residents were unsure where to go or lacked transportation options.
The instability and homelessness caused by the conflict have left many feeling exhausted and hopeless, including Hanaa, a mother of three who lost her home in an Israeli bombing at the start of the war.
Razan Salha, a student who fled Gaza City due to bombardment, described the challenges of finding shelter and transportation, expressing her weariness and loss of hope.
UN agencies and humanitarian partners have raised concerns about the humanitarian consequences of intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza City, warning that hundreds of thousands of people being ordered to move south could constitute forcible transfer under international law.
Despite the warnings and risks, many Gaza City residents remain unsure of where to turn as the conflict escalates.
**Israel Directs Gazans to “Humanitarian Area” Amidst Famine Crisis**
In a desperate attempt to address the growing famine crisis in Gaza, the Israeli military has instructed only 50,000 individuals to cross from northern to southern Gaza. These individuals have been directed to a newly designated “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, as per IDF orders.
The “humanitarian area” is said to include essential infrastructure such as field hospitals and water pipelines. Supplies of food, tents, and medicines are promised to be delivered in coordination with international organizations. However, al-Mawasi has been a target of repeated bombings by Israeli forces during the war, leading the UN to declare nowhere in Gaza as truly “safe”.
Despite the efforts to provide aid, the tent camps in al-Mawasi are already overcrowded and local hospitals are operating well beyond their capacity. The UN has stressed the urgent need for more tents to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Furthermore, the UN has called on Israel, which controls Gaza’s border crossings, to allow in more food and supplies to prevent the spread of famine. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned that time is running out, with a narrow window until the end of September to prevent famine from reaching central and southern cities such as Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
Since the confirmation of a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the Hamas-run health ministry has reported at least 121 deaths from starvation and malnutrition across the territory. Israel, however, has disputed these figures and claims to be expanding efforts to facilitate aid deliveries.
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza was launched in response to a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023, resulting in a devastating death toll. The health ministry in Gaza reports that at least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then.
As the crisis continues to escalate, the fate of Gaza hangs in the balance, with the international community and Israel at odds over how to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the region.
