IDF urges Palestinians to evacuate: We are going to attack with great force

The military’s top spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the Israel Defense Forces is preparing for the next stages of the ongoing war with Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip and urges Palestinians in the north of the enclave to evacuate, saying Israel was going to “attack with great force.”

“We are deployed and strongly prepared for the next stages of the war,” Hagari says in a press conference.

“We are preparing the forces, going over plans, prepared in all arenas, south, north, and center,” he says.

“We are focused on Gaza but are widely deployed [across the country] that allows us to operate simultaneously in all arenas,” he says.

Hagari says hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians have evacuated from northern Gaza to the south, following warnings by the IDF that it will soon heavily target the area.

“There are still citizens who have not yet evacuated. Anyone who chooses not to evacuate puts himself and his family in danger. We will attack with great force in the areas that have been evacuated,” he says.

Hagari says Hamas is under pressure and trying to prevent Palestinian civilians from evacuating, “because the organization’s leaders are hiding beneath them.”