Some Gaza City residents seen resisting Israeli warnings to flee south

Hamas-affiliated media outlets in Gaza report on a protest by dozens of people in Gaza City insisting that they will not leave the city.

Footage shows demonstrators carrying signs reading “We will not leave” and expressing the sentiment that they will only leave when they’re dead.

Israel has stepped up warnings for residents of the city to leave, issuing a call for the entire city to evacuate to southern Gaza and dropping leaflets with the warning over the city.

"النزوح من غزة نحو السماء فقط"..

الأهالي في مدينة غزة ينظمون وقفة للتأكيد على رفض النزوح والخروج من المدينة وعدم الرضوخ لتهديدات الاحتلال.#لن_نرحل#مش_طالعين pic.twitter.com/N0FEFlsl7p

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) September 9, 2025

Public protests are rare in Gaza, and the fact that it was publicized by Hamas media may indicate that the rally was organized by the terror group rather than being a spontaneous demonstration.

Israel says Hamas is trying to stop Gazans from leaving the city, hoping to use them as human shields.

Many in the city, including some who have been displaced repeatedly during the war, have expressed exasperation with the demand to evacuate, arguing that nowhere in the enclave is safe.

“Despite the bombardment in the past week, I have resisted leaving, but now I will go to be with my daughter,” a 55-year-old mother of six tells Reuters by text message.

While pictures out of Gaza show some leaving to the south, there are no immediate signs of a mass exodus in the wake of Israel’s warnings.

Another Gazan woman says the choice now is whether “to stay and die at home in Gaza City, or follow Israel orders and leave Gaza and die in the south.”