Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people. (File)
Gaza City:
The Israeli army dropped thousands of leaflets on Gaza City on Wednesday calling on all residents to leave, amid an intensified military offensive on the Palestinian territory’s main city, an AFP journalist said.
The leaflets, addressed to “everyone in Gaza City”, outlined routes from the city to designated safe areas further south and warned that the urban area would “remain a dangerous combat zone” as the army attacked Hamas targets.
Israel issued its first formal evacuation order for part of the city on June 27, and two more in the following days.
In the leaflet, the army said residents could take two safe routes from Gaza City to shelters in Deir Al-Balah and Al-Zawiya “quickly and without inspection.”
Following the October 7 Hamas attacks, Israel said in January it had “dismantled” the group’s “military structure” in the northern city.
Tens of thousands of residents have already fled Gaza City since troops launched the latest offensive in the city’s eastern Shujaiya district. Ground battles have occurred since then.
The last two orders concerned the central and western districts where tanks and troops entered this week.
The army also said its forces attacked officers at the vacant headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, in Gaza City.
Strikes have also hit Deir Al-Balah, an area where Palestinians urgently need to move to for security reasons.
The United Nations expressed concern Tuesday about Israel’s evacuation orders, saying they are telling Palestinians to go to areas where fighting is taking place.
The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli figures.
The officers also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 who the military says are dead.
Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 38,243 people in Gaza, including mostly civilians, according to figures released Tuesday by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
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