Israel has issued widespread evacuation orders in Gaza, leading Hamas to call on Palestinians in the north of the territory to remain in their homes and stand firm against the “disgusting psychological war” being waged by the occupation. Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza City are affected by the evacuation order.
Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza as Israel has completely sealed off the territory, a narrow strip of land about 25 miles long.
The Israeli military had said it would operate with “significant force” in Gaza in the coming days and is calling on civilians to evacuate.
Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces “will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians”.
He added: “Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate.”
The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours.
Suffering in Gaza has risen dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine, while the territory’s only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The mortuary at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is set to visit on Friday, a day after American secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7.