For the First Time, Israel Orders Full Evacuation Of Gaza City Ahead Of Ground Op

The IDF on Tuesday issued its first blanket evacuation directive for Gaza City, telling all Palestinians to leave the city immediately ahead of an imminent large-scale ground assault on Hamas.

Until now, Israeli evacuation warnings had applied only to individual buildings or surrounding neighborhoods.

“The IDF is determined to defeat Hamas and will operate in the Gaza City area with great force, just as it has throughout the Strip,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, posted on X.

Residents were told to head south via the coastal road toward the humanitarian zone designated by Israel.

“Remaining in the area is extremely dangerous,” Adraee cautioned.

The statement also listed a phone line for Gazans to “report Hamas roadblocks or attempts by its members to prevent evacuation.”

Last week, Israeli officials accused Hamas of blocking civilians from leaving, using them as human shields while at the same time accusing Israel of “forced displacement” to sway global opinion.

Witnesses said Israeli aircraft scattered hundreds of leaflets over Gaza City on Tuesday, urging civilians to move south.

Israel has declared Gaza City, the Strip’s largest northern hub, a combat zone as it prepares to capture the city and pressure Hamas into surrendering. Several areas are already designated “red zones,” with residents ordered out ahead of expected intense clashes.

The evacuation warnings have left residents unsettled, including many who had earlier returned after leaving during the initial stages of the war. With IDF bulldozers flattening ground in captured neighborhoods and some Israeli leaders backing the mass relocation of Palestinians, many fear leaving Gaza City now could mean permanent expulsion.

While images showed some heading south, there was no mass departure in response to Israel’s announcement. Hamas has, in the past, threatened evacuees with death.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said roughly 100,000 had already left Gaza City, far fewer than the city’s estimated one million residents.

Footage released by Hamas on social media showed protests against the evacuation, but given that such rallies are unusual in Gaza, and the fact that Hamas media covered it, suggested the terror group may have orchestrated the event rather than it being spontaneous.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz warned Tuesday that Gaza would be “reduced to rubble” if Hamas does not disarm and release the hostages it has held for nearly two years. His remarks came as the IDF continued striking high-rises in Gaza City.

In recent days, the army has targeted multistory buildings it said Hamas used for military activity, after providing advance warnings for civilians to evacuate.

“An unprecedented hurricane hit Gaza yesterday,” Katz wrote on X. “Thirty multistory terror buildings were attacked and destroyed and dozens more terror targets were bombed and demolished, to thwart infrastructure for observation and terror, and pave the way for ground forces.”

“If Hamas terrorists do not lay down their arms and free all the hostages, they will be destroyed and Gaza will be razed,” he said.

His post included footage of the al-Ruya tower collapsing in the city’s Rimal neighborhood on Monday.

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Monday that five towers had been demolished by Israel in the last 72 hours — far fewer than the numbers cited by Netanyahu and Katz.

The agency said the five towers, each 10 to 15 stories high, contained 209 apartments housing 4,100 people. The strikes also destroyed 350 nearby tents where 3,500 displaced people were living.

A day after four IDF soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack near Gaza City, Hamas’s civil defense said Israeli air raids continued throughout the night.

“All we hear are bombings and ambulances carrying martyrs,” resident Laila Saqr told AFP by phone.

Israel has been escalating its bombardments of Gaza City as it prepares to seize control of the area, despite international appeals for restraint.

Families of the hostages in Gaza expressed mounting concern, recalling the murder of six captives in Rafah last year as Hamas killed them when Israeli troops approached.

Channel 13 reported that the IDF admits it lacks precise intelligence on the hostages’ whereabouts, and believes Hamas may relocate them into Gaza City as the IDF advances.

According to Israeli media, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir opposes a full takeover of Gaza City and has urged Netanyahu’s cabinet to prioritize a ceasefire-for-hostages agreement.

Channel 12 reported that Zamir recently assured hostage families, telling them, “the operation will be conducted by me, with responsibility toward the troops and the hostages.”