More than half a million Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City since late August, IDF says

More than 550,000 Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City to the Strip’s south since late August, the military says, as the IDF expands its offensive against Hamas in the area.

Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF launched the offensive. The military ordered Palestinians in all areas of Gaza City to evacuate to an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in the Strip’s south.

The military issued the evacuation warnings by sending voice and text messages, dropping leaflets, and conducting phone calls. In southern Gaza, the IDF says the humanitarian zone has been adapted for those evacuating Gaza City, including “the expansion of field hospitals, the repair and connection of water lines and desalination facilities, alongside the continued regular supply to the area of food, tents, medicines, and medical equipment.”

“The IDF calls on the civilians in the Gaza Strip to heed the official instructions for their safety and to avoid staying in areas defined as dangerous,” the military says.

Despite the efforts, the IDF says that it has identified attempts by Hamas to prevent civilians from moving to southern Gaza, “in violation of international law, while cruelly exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for terror activities.”

Meanwhile, the IDF says three divisions, the 162nd, 98th, and 36th, completed their entry to Gaza City in recent days, and have begun “operations in the Hamas terror strongholds” in the area.