Israel’s military said on Tuesday that it will act with “great force” in Gaza City and told residents to leave as it stepped up its deadly assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest urban centre.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a similar warning, as Israel intensified its bombardment in preparation for an operation to seize Gaza City despite global calls to end the war.
“To all residents of Gaza City… the defence forces are determined to defeat Hamas and will act with great force in the Gaza City area,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
“Evacuate immediately via the Al-Rashid axis,” he added.
An AFP photographer in Gaza City saw planes drop hundreds of leaflets urging residents to flee southwards.
On Monday, Netanyahu had issued a video statement saying: “In two days we brought down 50 terror towers, and this is only the opening stage of the intensified ground manoeuvre in Gaza City. I say to the residents: you have been warned, leave now!”
“All of this is just a prelude, just the opening, to the main intensified operation — the ground manoeuvre of our forces, who are now organising and assembling to enter Gaza City,” he added.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, said Netanyahu’s threat amounted to an “explicit act of forced displacement”.
– ‘Bombings and ambulances’ –
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes continued overnight across Gaza City.
The agency had said at least 39 people had been killed by Israel on Monday, including 25 in Gaza City.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
On Monday, Israeli forces targeted a fourth high-rise building in Gaza City in as many days, with AFP footage showing the Al-Ruya tower crashing to the ground moments after being struck.
“All we hear are bombings and ambulances carrying martyrs,” Laila Saqr, a resident, told AFP by telephone.
Saqr, 40, said she used to visit a gym in the tower twice a week, but now, “nothing is left”.
“Israel destroys everything — even the memories. If they could, they would strip the very oxygen from the air.”
Israel said Hamas had used the tower for intelligence gathering and planted explosives in it. It had earlier warned residents and those nearby to evacuate.
Separately, the military announced that four Israeli soldiers were killed when Palestinian militants threw an explosive device into their tank.
– ‘Last warning’ –
The build-up to a campaign to take control of Gaza City comes as talks to end the war have yet to render an agreement.
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that “the Israelis have accepted my terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well. I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning”.
Hamas said that it was ready to “immediately sit at the negotiating table” following what it described as “some ideas from the American side aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement”.
US news outlet Axios reported that White House envoy Steve Witkoff sent a new proposal for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal to Hamas last week.
The White House has not released any details about the proposal, but Trump said “you’ll be hearing about it pretty soon”.
Hamas agreed last month to a ceasefire proposal that involved a 60-day truce and staggered hostage releases.
Israel, however, has demanded the militant group release all the hostages at once, disarm and relinquish control of Gaza, among other conditions.
The Israeli military says 47 hostages remain in Gaza, including 25 believed to be dead.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,522 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.
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