The Israeli military ordered civilians living in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area within 24 hours, possibly signaling an impending ground invasion to root out Hamas terrorists based in the area.
“The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and to move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, the river Gaza, as shown on the map,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Friday morning.
The message was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, to minimize the number of civilian casualties in Israel’s ongoing offensive against northern Gaza. Roughly 1.1 million Palestinians live in the area.
EXCLUSIVE: Operational update by IDF Spokesperson @jconricus as the war against Hamas continues. https://t.co/MFAOiCSssH
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2023
The IDF has called up a record 360,000 reservists since Saturday, tens of thousands of whom have massed on the border with Gaza.
Conricus explained that the directions to move south of the river should be clear and understandable for everybody, regardless of whether they have a map. After Hamas attacked the Jewish state on Saturday, Israel launched airstrikes on Gaza City, where the militant group has been based. Hamas terrorists have been reportedly hiding in tunnels underneath homes and inside buildings populated with innocent civilians.
The IDF spokesman said the evacuation directive is for the safety of residents, adding that civilians will not be able to return to Gaza City until another announcement permitting the move is made. He also said Palestinian civilians should not approach the area of the security fence located along Israel’s border.
The IDF notified the United Nations of the evacuation around the same time.
“Today, just before midnight local time, team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement to Axios.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” Dujarric added. “The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
In response to IDF’s warning, Hamas told Gaza residents to not evacuate and called them to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation.”
Since the conflict began last weekend, over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes against Hamas. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed during Hamas’s invasion into Israel, and thousands more have been wounded on both sides.
At least 27 Americans have died in Israel since the conflict began, White House spokesman John Kirby confirmed Thursday.