Israeli military urges full evacuation of Gaza City ahead of expanded military operation

By WAFAA SHURAFA SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP The Israeli military urged a full evacuation of Gaza City on Tuesday morning ahead of its planned expanded offensive in the northern city where hundreds of thousands of people struggle under conditions of famine The announcement was the first warning for a full evacuation of the city in the current round of fighting Previously the military has warned specific sections of Gaza City to evacuate ahead of concentrated operations or strikes Associated Press reporters saw more cars and trucks than previous days passing from northern to southern Gaza on Tuesday laden with supplies and people but no widespread evacuation Israel says multiple towers destroyed in Gaza City Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday announced Israel had demolished high-rise buildings in Gaza which it accused Hamas of using for military infrastructure Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli army strike on a building in Gaza City Sunday Sept after the Israeli army issued a prior warning AP Photo Yousef Al Zanoun Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Monday that Israel destroyed at least terror towers that he mentioned are used by Hamas It was unclear if the towers Katz referred to are in addition to those disclosed by Netanyahu who called the demolition of the high-rises only the introduction only the beginning of the main intensive operation the ground incursion of our forces The demolitions are part of Israel ramping up its offensive to take control of what it portrays as Hamas last remaining stronghold urging Palestinians to flee parts of Gaza City for a designated humanitarian zone in the territory s south Despite warnings insufficient Palestinians have left Tuesday s warnings were the greater part widespread evacuation warnings in the current round of fighting though Israel s previous warnings to leave specific neighborhoods have had little impact on a population that is exhausted from multiple displacements and unclear if moving to southern Gaza will really be safer Displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza carry their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza Sunday Sept AP Photo Jehad Alshrafi There are an estimated million Palestinians in the area of north Gaza around Gaza City according to both the Israeli military and the United Nations around half of Gaza s population of million As of Sept a coalition of humanitarian groups tracking movement in northern Gaza revealed they had tracked movements of people fleeing south A similar number were people moved within northern Gaza The evidence from the coalition called the Site Management Cluster tracks movement from eyewitness accounts social media posts and information from partners on the ground because access to northern Gaza is restricted Military spokesperson Col Avichay Adraee warned last week that the evacuation of Gaza City was inevitable saying families who move south would receive humanitarian assistance But aid groups warned there was little infrastructure to encouragement them Palestinians and hostage survivors protest Israeli operation Dozens of Palestinians including doctors and clinical staff took part in a protest in Gaza City on Tuesday that rejected the Israeli warnings Related Articles Nowadays in History September Attica prison uprising begins Sweden s plans to mine rare-earth minerals could ruin the lives of Indigenous Sami reindeer herders Police open fire on protests of Nepal s social media program killing at least ICC presents evidence against warlord Joseph Kony in first in absentia hearing US firm agrees million expenditure deal with Pakistan for critical minerals We will never leave our land healthcare care workers won t leave and we are calling for protection noted Dr Muneer al-Boursh the general director of Gaza s Vitality Ministry Dr Rami Mhanna managing director of Shifa Hospital disclosed although the situation in Gaza City was tense the facility still operates and receives patients So far things are as usual he recounted The Associated Press two hours after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of Gaza City But the atmosphere is tense and there is great psychological pressure on the staff and patients He mentioned he didn t notice displacement in and around the hospital In Jerusalem families of hostages and former captives in Gaza pleaded with Israeli lawmakers to halt the Gaza City offensive I was held captive by Hamas for days and was circulated in a deal in February Iair Horn whose brother Eitan is still in captivity recounted the Knesset s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee If I was disclosed through a deal then apparently that s the right way to free the rest of the hostages who remain UN says families can t afford to move The United Nations humanitarian agency mentioned multiple families can t evacuate even if they want to because displacement sites are overcrowded and because it can cost more than to move to southern Gaza a prohibitive cost for multiple A U N initiative to bring temporary shelters into Gaza revealed that more than tents and other supplies were still awaiting clearance to enter Gaza as of last week The U N agency that oversees Palestinian refugees explained Tuesday mentioned that Israeli attacks on residential towers in Gaza City had displaced dozens of families with several of them having been left on the streets without shelter or basic necessities COGAT the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid to Gaza disclosed humanitarian aid trucks primarily containing food entered Gaza last week and there are plans to bring in tents in the coming weeks various of which are presently waiting in Jordan The tents needed to be adapted to swap metal poles which COGAT revealed were repurposed into rockets used by militants with plastic poles The war in Gaza began when Hamas abducted people on Oct and killed selected people mostly Israeli civilians Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza around of them held to be alive Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed at least Palestinians according to Gaza s Healthcare Ministry which does not say how a multitude of were civilians or combatants It says around half of those killed were women and children Large parts of major cities have been thoroughly destroyed and around of the population of various million Palestinians have been displaced Palestinian teenagers killed in the West Bank Two -year-old Palestinian boys were killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Soundness Ministry The Israeli military mentioned the situation happened in the northern West Bank City of Jenin where several people approached Israeli soldiers in a way that posed a threat The area was under military closure and entry was prohibited at the time the military stated without providing further information Also in the West Bank an Israeli study continued into two Palestinians who opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Monday killing six people It was the deadliest attack against civilians in Israel in nearly a year Defense Minister Israel Katz publicized Tuesday he placed sanctions on the relatives and residents of the towns where the two attackers are from will order all buildings constructed without permits to be demolished and canceled work visas for town residents Magdy published from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv Israel Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this review