IDF calls on parts of central Gaza to evacuate ahead of fresh incursion
Military preparing for expected Hamas attacks on anniversary of October 7; says it struck former school used as Hamas command post
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday called on Palestinian civilians in parts of the central Gaza Strip to evacuate to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone ahead of plans for an expanded ground operation in the area, the first one in Gaza in several weeks.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, published a map of the zones that need to evacuate in the areas of Nuseirat and Bureij, saying that Hamas and other terror groups “are continuing their terror activities within your area, and accordingly the IDF will act with great force against these elements.”
The evacuated zones are located just south of the military’s so-called Netzarim Corridor south of Gaza City, where it maintains a semi-permanent presence.
The latest military action comes as the IDF prepares for the likelihood of Hamas efforts to launch attacks on the anniversary of the terror group’s deadly October 7 onslaught in southern Israel that sparked the war.
There have been numerous attempts by Hamas to attack troops in the Netzarim Corridor, and on Tuesday, a large crowd of Palestinians attempted to return to north Gaza through the area but were pushed back by the IDF.
In other developments, the IDF said it struck Hamas terror operatives overnight in a command center located in a former school in central Gaza.
#عاجل إلى سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في البلوكات التالية: 660, 664-666, 2210, 2220, 2221, 2314-2316, 2322
⭕️تواصل حماس والمنظمات الارهابية أنشطتها الإرهابية داخل منطقتكم وبناء على ذلك سيعمل جيش الدفاع بقوة شديدة ضد هذه العناصر.
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم اخلوا هذه المناطق فورًا نحو المنطقة… pic.twitter.com/7fWHrBLcRo— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 5, 2024
The army said it took various steps to minimize harm to civilians before the strike.
Officials in the Hamas-run enclave said Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza early Saturday killed at least nine people, including two children.
One strike hit a group of people in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, killing at least five people, including two children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Another strike hit a house in the northern part of the Nuseirat camp, killing at least four people, the Awda Hospital said. The strike also left a number of people wounded, it said.
The Israeli military did not have any immediate comment on the strikes.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting there so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 348.
The Times of Israel Community.